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• Domonic Sack Covers the Bases<br />
of Sound Design<br />
• How To Finance Higher Learning<br />
• A Backdrop Primer and Directory<br />
www.stage-directions.com<br />
MAY 2008<br />
Kevin Spacey Talks<br />
Training and the Future<br />
of the Old Vic<br />
The Career Paths of Two<br />
Regional Theatre A.D.s<br />
Alternate Models of<br />
Artistic Direction
Table Of Contents<br />
May 2008<br />
Features<br />
20 Direction In All Things<br />
Brigham Young University’s theatre program mentors students<br />
toward success. By Logan Molyneux<br />
22 The Skinny On Scholarships<br />
Financial assistance for theatrical training is easier to find<br />
than you think. By Lisa Mulcahy<br />
24 Theatre Space<br />
Centennial Hall looked around and went large when it came<br />
time to upgrade their audio system. By Steve Shull<br />
27 New Voices and Social<br />
Consciousness<br />
Dobama brings contemporary and thought-provoking plays<br />
to the Cleveland theatre scene. By John Bliss<br />
28 The Journey to Site-Specific<br />
Pittsburgh’s Quantum Theatre has made a practice of making<br />
the unconventional space work, from pools in Pittsburgh to<br />
adult clubs in Madrid. By Kevin M. Mitchell<br />
42 Backdrop Basics<br />
A primer on backdrops and drapery, including a directory<br />
of backdrop and drapery rental companies from the 2007<br />
Theatre Resources Directory. By Erik Viker<br />
Special Section: Artistic Direction<br />
30 New Visions In Artistic Direction<br />
Two bold theatres are trying to reinvent the A.D. wheel.<br />
By Bret Love<br />
32 Kevin Spacey Talks Training<br />
Two-time Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey opens up to SD<br />
about his unique role as artistic director of London’s Old Vic<br />
theatre and his theatre training. By Alex S. Morrison<br />
35 Career Path<br />
SD sits down with some regional theatre artistic directors and<br />
talks about the paths they followed to get into the hot seat.<br />
By Kevin M. Mitchell<br />
20
Departments:<br />
9 Letters<br />
We give credit where credit’s due to Denver’s vibrant<br />
theatre scene.<br />
10 In the Greenroom<br />
New York Theatre Workshop lays off its entire production<br />
department, Steinberg Charitable Trust creates<br />
$200,000 award for playwrights, Microphone Interests<br />
Coalition fires back at Google’s white space proposal.<br />
14 Tools of the Trade<br />
New tools corralled from USITT in Houston.<br />
16 Light on the Subject<br />
Part two of our lighting paperwork guide sheds light<br />
on the Private Paperwork Packet. By Steve Shelley<br />
18 Hardwired For Sound<br />
We cross-examine Domonic Sack, a sound designer<br />
who lives, breathes and eats sound.<br />
By Bryan Reesman<br />
52 Answer Box<br />
The heroine has dreadlocks and a swing in Kneehigh<br />
Theatre’s touring production of Rapunzel.<br />
By Thomas H. Freeman<br />
22<br />
Columns:<br />
7 Editor’s Note<br />
Conventions as a rite of spring. By Jacob Coakley<br />
38 Show Biz<br />
The NEA New Play Development Fund has a hefty<br />
entrance fee. What can you do without that kind of<br />
bank statement? By Tim Cusack<br />
39 TD Talk<br />
Keeping the faith in ourselves, in our craft and in our<br />
crew is vital to get the job done. By Dave McGinnis<br />
40 Off the Shelf<br />
This month we fill the insatiable desire for monologues.<br />
By Stephen Peithman<br />
41 The Play’s the Thing<br />
Culture and conflict intertwine with plays that<br />
explore how basic differences can tear a world apart.<br />
By Stephen Peithman<br />
30<br />
ON OUR COVER: Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum in the Old Vic’s production<br />
of David Mamet’s Speed-the-Plow<br />
PHOTOGRAPHY: Courtesy of the Old Vic
Dan Hernandez<br />
Editor’s Note<br />
Convention<br />
Equinox<br />
This past month, I was privileged<br />
enough to be able to attend two<br />
completely different theatre conventions<br />
in the same week.<br />
First, I trekked down to Houston for<br />
the USITT show. I somehow missed this<br />
while I was a theatre undergrad, and<br />
judging from the large number of students<br />
there, I was the only one. Students<br />
flooded the floor throughout the show, but everyone quickly<br />
learned when the schedule was “Expo Only” — a period<br />
when there were no educational panels scheduled, so as<br />
to allow all the attendees to tour the floor and search for<br />
schwag (not to mention interview for jobs or grad schools,<br />
catch up with colleagues, or meet theatre sound legend Abe<br />
Jacob). The number of panels I attended was dwarfed by<br />
the number of panels I wanted to attend, and I left each one<br />
amazed at the smarts and skills on display.<br />
From Houston, I flew to Louisville, Ky., for the Actors<br />
Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival of New American<br />
Plays. Sure, it’s not technically a convention, and I won’t<br />
review the shows, but I couldn’t give a more glowing recommendation<br />
to the Actors Theatre community, as well as to<br />
all the attendees. I spent most of my time getting to know<br />
the artistic staff at theatres across the country, talking about<br />
the challenges of developing and presenting new plays.<br />
Everyone was keenly aware of the bind that larger institutional<br />
theatres find themselves in when it comes to producing<br />
new, risky work and actively searching for the best way<br />
to get new voices into the mix. No one had a magic bullet,<br />
but everyone was working on a solution, including some<br />
unconventional ideas that may bear fruit down the road.<br />
It’s easy (for me at least) to get burnt out on the intense<br />
schedule and demands of theatre and just focus on the<br />
sausage-making elements of production — It’s just another<br />
show, just put it up, are we making our numbers? How can<br />
we get more press? — It was great to have a long weekend<br />
surrounded by passionate people on every side of theatre<br />
(technical and performing artists, students and established<br />
professionals, insiders and people trying to break in) who all<br />
intensely, unabashedly, to-hell-with-practicality love theatre<br />
and want to make as much of it as possible. It’s a daunting<br />
proposition — the challenges to creating any work of art,<br />
let alone making a career out of it, are legion and fatiguing.<br />
So, I was incredibly grateful to be among so many committed,<br />
vibrant and excited theatre people. It was inspiring and<br />
reinvigorating — a perfect beginning to spring.<br />
Jacob Coakley<br />
Editor<br />
<strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Directions</strong><br />
jcoakley@stage-directions.com
Publisher Terry Lowe<br />
tlowe@stage-directions.com<br />
Editor Jacob Coakley<br />
jcoakley@stage-directions.com<br />
Audio Editor Jason Pritchard<br />
jpritchard@stage-directions.com<br />
Lighting & Staging Editor Richard Cadena<br />
rcadena@plsn.com<br />
New York Editor Bryan Reesman<br />
bryan@stage-directions.com<br />
Managing Editor Breanne George<br />
bg@stage-directions.com<br />
Contributing Writers John Bliss, Tim Cusack, Bret Love,<br />
Dave McGinnis, Kevin M. Mitchell,<br />
Logan Molyneux, Alex S. Morrison,<br />
Lisa Mulcahy, Bryan Reesman,<br />
Steve Shelley, Steve Shull, Erik Viker<br />
Consulting Editor Stephen Peithman<br />
ART<br />
Art Director Garret Petrov<br />
Graphic Designers Crystal Franklin, David Alan<br />
Production<br />
Production Manager Linda Evans<br />
levans@stage-directions.com<br />
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Web Designer Josh Harris<br />
ADVERTISING<br />
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gregg@stage-directions.com<br />
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jleasing@stage-directions.com<br />
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dh@stage-directions.com<br />
Advertising Sales Associate Leslie Rohrscheib<br />
lr@stage-directions.com<br />
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wvanyo@stage-directions.com<br />
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Advisory Board<br />
Joshua Alemany<br />
Rosco<br />
Julie Angelo<br />
American Association of<br />
Community Theatre<br />
Robert Barber<br />
BMI Supply<br />
Ken Billington<br />
Lighting Designer<br />
Roger claman<br />
Rose Brand<br />
Patrick Finelli, PhD<br />
University of<br />
South Florida<br />
Gene Flaharty<br />
Mehron Inc.<br />
Cathy Hutchison<br />
Acoustic Dimensions<br />
Keith Kankovsky<br />
Apollo Design<br />
Becky Kaufman<br />
Period Corsets<br />
Keith Kevan<br />
KKO Network<br />
Todd Koeppl<br />
Chicago Spotlight Inc.<br />
Kimberly Messer<br />
Lillenas Drama Resources<br />
John Meyer<br />
Meyer Sound<br />
John Muszynski<br />
Theater Director<br />
Maine South High School<br />
Scott Parker<br />
Pace University/USITT-NY<br />
Ron Ranson<br />
Theatre Arts<br />
Video Library<br />
David Rosenberg<br />
I. Weiss & Sons Inc.<br />
Karen Rugerio<br />
Dr. Phillips High School<br />
Ann Sachs<br />
Sachs Morgan Studio<br />
Bill Sapsis<br />
Sapsis Rigging<br />
Richard Silvestro<br />
Franklin Pierce College<br />
OTHER TIMELESS COMMUNICATIONS PUBLICATIONS
Letters<br />
Smoking On <strong>Stage</strong><br />
— Again?<br />
I<br />
am weary of this whole debate and angry that it is returning<br />
with such force. Let's suppose a playwright (I teach<br />
playwriting and am married to a playwright) creates a<br />
scene in which someone uses a gun. Let's suppose the playwright<br />
opposes the "prop" gun route. Who is responsible<br />
now if someone is injured? The playwright? Under their<br />
argument of artistic freedom, no. The producers? Under<br />
their argument of artistic freedom, no. The actor? They just<br />
do what the director says. The director? No, they just do<br />
what the playwright insists of them. What if an audience<br />
member is injured by a stray shot?<br />
So, let's turn the discussion back to smoking. Who is at<br />
fault when someone is injured? If a producer requires a<br />
performer to smoke for a role, they can be held liable in the<br />
event of a future smoking-related illness. What if an audience<br />
member has a reaction to, or dies from, the presence<br />
of secondhand smoke? Who is responsible? Freedoms and<br />
responsibilities are not the same. No one has the right to<br />
harm someone else. We, as theatre artists, employ stage<br />
combat. No one is intentionally killed in a sword battle. No<br />
scenery is actually burned to the ground on stage. We do not<br />
slash people open and put them through the meat grinder<br />
during every performance of Sweeney Todd. To allow smoking<br />
in a production endangers performers, crew and audience.<br />
As an asthmatic, I have had to leave many productions,<br />
in the past because of the presence of smoking on stage.<br />
Just when I thought we were making progress, the practice<br />
is returning. Whatever happened to willing suspension of<br />
disbelief? We have laws regulating the use of pyrotechnics<br />
on stage, we have begun holding accreditation courses for<br />
electricians and riggers to insure the safety of all present.<br />
So I would say, in response to your editor's note in the<br />
April issue, "So is there anything you just can't put on<br />
the stage? Besides smoking? (Joking, joking. Maybe)," that<br />
smoking has no place on stage or in public places. The<br />
presence of any smoke denies access to the vast majority of<br />
the public that does not want to be exposed for reasons of<br />
personal preference or personal health.<br />
Shan R. Ayers, MFA<br />
Associate Professor of Theatre<br />
Berea College<br />
Berea, KY<br />
Our articles on smoking continue to generate the most<br />
responses than any other stories — by far. And you’re in good<br />
company, Professor Ayers. The Denver Post, in its reporting<br />
on the ruling that upheld the smoking ban said: "In its ruling,<br />
the Court of Appeals said that theatres were already in<br />
the business of make-believe, and that barring smoking was<br />
essentially no different from barring the use of illegal drugs or<br />
real violence.” — ed.
In the Greenroom<br />
theatre buzz<br />
New York Theatre Workshop Eliminates Production Department<br />
New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) moved to eliminate<br />
the theatre’s six-person production department on April 10,<br />
including the production manager and technical director. The<br />
five year-round staffers and one seasonal employee will be laid<br />
off officially effective May 30, 2008.<br />
Citing an urgent need to whittle a projected $5 million<br />
annual operating budget down to $3.5 million, NYTW gave all<br />
employees the option of taking a week long furlough without<br />
pay beginning in January in order to avoid layoffs. According to<br />
NYTW Production Manager Michael Casselli, the furlough idea<br />
was put to the staff bluntly. “It was either take the furlough, or<br />
there will be possible lay offs,” he says. “It’s not really a choice.”<br />
Upon termination, the six production department staffers<br />
were reimbursed for wages lost during the furlough.<br />
The company-wide payroll reduction reportedly saved the<br />
theatre nearly $50,000, but ultimately did not stave off the<br />
Workshop’s financial situation. The NYTW Board of Trustees<br />
issued a mandate to the theatre, calling for the shaving of $1<br />
million from the operating budget.<br />
Pointing to the imminent restructuring of NYTW when<br />
new Managing Director Billy Russo begins his tenure in June,<br />
Interim Managing Director Fred Walker informed the production<br />
department employees of their termination behind closed<br />
doors. The staff was in the midst of teching the Elevator Repair<br />
Service adaptation of Faulkner’s The Sound And The Fury (which<br />
began previews April 15) at the time.<br />
Walker cited the lack of a production schedule for next<br />
season as the primary rationale for cutting the production<br />
department before anything else. “It’s [the production]<br />
department, because it’s the most obvious,” Walker told<br />
Casselli’s staff last Thursday.<br />
Casselli claims the annual salary savings of the firings will<br />
amount to approximately $280,000 plus varying benefits savings.<br />
As of this writing, Casselli was also offered a deal to walk<br />
off the job immediately without losing pay through the official<br />
termination date at the end of May. The employees will be<br />
covered by NYTW health insurance through June 30.<br />
According to NYTW Spokesperson Richard Kornberg the<br />
termination of the production staff is “fiscally responsible, not<br />
reprehensible,” and referred to the goings-on at NYTW as a<br />
“fluid situation.” Kornberg also emphasized that the Workshop<br />
will not be producing any shows during the summer months,<br />
and was unsure of the actual savings of the current cutbacks.<br />
The theatre, known for its stagings of new work (including<br />
the premiere of Rent over a decade ago), will almost certainly<br />
cut back its production schedule next season and plans to either<br />
hire production positions on a show-by-show or seasonal basis.<br />
NYTW still plans on breaking ground for their new LEEDcertified<br />
scene and costume shop facilities on May 20, although<br />
questions have been raised regarding the lack of staff to operate<br />
and maintain the building. Casselli has acted as the “liaison<br />
to the architect” on the project since joining the NYTW staff<br />
nearly two years ago, and has also been the theatre’s strongest<br />
advocate for advancing environmentally friendly practices in<br />
its operations.<br />
“Since NYTW intends to hire people on a per show basis<br />
next season,” Kornberg says, “the [new] costume and scene<br />
shop will not be affected.”<br />
Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust Creates $200,000 Award for Playwrights<br />
As part of the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright<br />
Award, the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust<br />
has created two new awards for established playwrights,<br />
including one with a $200,000 cash prize.<br />
The $200,000 award, whose first recipient will be<br />
announced this fall, is one of the largest cash prizes<br />
specifically targeted toward playwrights.<br />
The second award, the Steinberg Emerging<br />
Playwrights Award, is designed for up-and-coming<br />
playwrights and has a cash prize of $50,000. This<br />
award will honor two playwrights biannually beginning<br />
in 2009.<br />
industry news<br />
City Theatrical Opens London Location<br />
City Theatrical has opened its new<br />
London office serving the UK and<br />
European markets. The opening is timed<br />
to coincide with the European launch of<br />
SHoW DMX, City Theatrical’s new wireless<br />
DMX system.<br />
City Theatrical’s London office is headed<br />
by Martin Chisnall, known for his work<br />
in the UK theatre industry as a production<br />
electrician for West End shows, as well<br />
as national and international tours. Most<br />
recently, his work has included Macbeth<br />
in London’s West End and the international<br />
tour of Mamma Mia!<br />
All City Theatrical products will continue<br />
to be available through existing<br />
dealers. The new office will allow City<br />
Theatrical to work closely with lighting<br />
users to introduce more European orientated<br />
products, along with providing<br />
design and customization services to a<br />
wider audience.<br />
Martin Chisnall<br />
10 May 2008 • www.stage-directions.com
industry news<br />
Microphone Interests Coalition Responds to Google White Space Proposal<br />
A broad coalition of high-profile wireless microphone users,<br />
organized as the Microphone Interests Coalition (MIC), has criticized<br />
the recent proposal submitted by Google to open the socalled<br />
“white spaces” to unlicensed device use.<br />
Google is touting the proposal as a spectrum compromise<br />
that eliminates any remaining interference concerns about using<br />
personal/portable devices in the unassigned TV channels called<br />
white spaces. The Microphone Interests Coalition, however, says<br />
the plan is far from a compromise and should not be viewed as a<br />
solution for wireless microphones.<br />
The proposal, similar to one submitted earlier by Motorola,<br />
would require wireless microphone users to purchase and operate<br />
a so-called “beacon” transmitter — akin to a jamming device<br />
— and would rely on white space devices to “sense” this beacon<br />
in order to prevent the white space device from interfering with<br />
microphone transmissions.<br />
Google’s proposal also identifies a “safe harbor” of three TV<br />
channels in which wireless microphones could operate without<br />
interference from new devices. Additional protections would be<br />
provided by intelligent “spectrum sensing” technology embedded<br />
in the portable devices. This sensing technology is currently<br />
under evaluation in FCC laboratory testing.<br />
“Despite their claims, the Google proposal does virtually nothing<br />
to protect wireless microphones. In short, their ‘enhanced<br />
spectrum protection plan’ doesn’t work,” said Ed Greene, Emmy<br />
Award-winning audio director who works on the Academy Awards,<br />
American Idol and Tony Awards. “Because of the potentially devastating<br />
effect on thousands of wireless microphones in daily use,<br />
the FCC should not consider adopting their proposal.”<br />
“First, the proposed beacon has not been developed, operated<br />
or tested in any fashion or in any forum,” said Scott Harmala, CTO<br />
of ATK Audiotek, a firm that supplies wireless audio equipment<br />
for many of the nation’s major TV award shows. “How can the FCC<br />
possibly approve an interference protection technology without<br />
anyone having seen it work? The Commission’s commitment to<br />
testing before ruling is well known and should be followed here.<br />
This includes field analysis in actual operating environments.”<br />
Harmala continues, “Second, the beacon concept relies on<br />
spectrum sensing — the very technology that is performing so<br />
poorly in the FCC’s ongoing test. Beacons could be just as difficult<br />
to detect as the wireless microphones themselves and could create<br />
additional interference problems. Without thorough testing,<br />
there is no way to know.”<br />
Bill Evans, editor of Front Of House [Full disclosure — FOH<br />
is a sister magazine to <strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Directions</strong>, published by Timeless<br />
Communications —ed.] magazine, adds, “Assuming a beacon<br />
were to be developed, the fine print reveals that very few wireless<br />
microphone users would be allowed to own and operate<br />
one. Documents filed by Google, Motorola and others make it<br />
clear that they believe that the great majority of wireless microphone<br />
users, who have developed a sophisticated, tried-and-true<br />
frequency coordination system that has enabled operation in this<br />
spectrum without issue for decades, do not deserve any protection<br />
priority. Any proposal that leaves touring concert and show<br />
productions, hotels and convention centers, Broadway houses<br />
and theatres across the country, houses of worship, civic auditoriums,<br />
educational institutions and large entertainment venues out<br />
in the cold cannot be described as serving the public interest.”<br />
www.stage-directions.com • May 2008 11
industry news<br />
Companies Give Back at USITT<br />
The Long Reach Long Riders and The ESTA Foundation<br />
have raised a total of $8,364 for their joint raffle to benefit<br />
the Behind the Scenes program at the USITT conference in<br />
Houston. When added to the Challenge Grants provided<br />
by Bigger Hammer Productions, Sapsis Rigging and Strong<br />
Entertainment Lighting, the total reached $18,364.<br />
The traditional pre-raffle kazoo parade kicked off the<br />
festivities and was emceed by Bill Sapsis, one of the founding<br />
Long Reach Long Riders. Sapsis invited a series of<br />
guests to pull the winning raffle tickets, including USITT<br />
President Sylvia Hillyard-Pannell, Rich Wolpert who had<br />
just completed a 754-mile bicycle ride in support of Behind<br />
the Scenes, and Michelle Kokal, who had just presented a<br />
$1,000 check on behalf of the USITT Student Chapter at<br />
Penn State University.<br />
All proceeds of the raffle go directly to The ESTA<br />
Foundation’s Behind the Scenes program, which provides<br />
entertainment technology industry members with grants for<br />
emergency situations, such as serious illness, injury or death.<br />
Also at USITT, Chris Mount, a student at University of<br />
Texas at Arlington, won the scholarship to Tomcat U.<br />
The scholarship to the Hoist and Truss Workshop from June<br />
4–7 will cover basic and advanced maintenance and troubleshooting<br />
techniques for CM Lodestars and Prostars; advanced<br />
troubleshooting scenarios; an overview of hoist control; basic<br />
and advanced instruction on truss design, usage and theory;<br />
live demonstrations of truss inspection and destruction.<br />
“I’m excited to attend the workshop because it will give me<br />
professional insight on trussing and motors,” Chris explained,<br />
“This is knowledge I’ll need when I enter the workforce.”<br />
Four Draft Standards to Review in Rigging, Power Distribution and Floors<br />
Four draft standards are available for public review on the ESTA<br />
Web site through May 26. The draft standards address specific problems<br />
found in powered rigging, electrical power distribution and<br />
floors used in live performances and special events.<br />
BSR E1.6-2 - 200x, Entertainment Technology - Purpose Designed<br />
Serially Manufactured Electric Chain Hoists for the Entertainment Industry,<br />
is part of the BSR E1.6 powered theatrical rigging systems project.<br />
BSR E1.18-1 - 200x, Standard for the Selection, Installation and Use<br />
of Single-Conductor Portable Power Feeder Cable Systems for Use at<br />
Less than 601 Volts Nominal for the Distribution of Electrical Energy in<br />
the Entertainment and Live-Event Industries, is part of a larger E1.18<br />
project to offer guidance on portable power feeder cable systems.<br />
SR E1.19 - 200x, Recommended Practice for the use of Class A<br />
Ground-Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCIs) intended for personnel protection<br />
in the Entertainment Industry, recommends practices for the<br />
safe use of 100 amp or lower, 120-240 VAC, single or three-phase, 60<br />
Hz Class A Ground-Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCIs).<br />
The fourth draft standard is BSR E1.34 - 200x, Entertainment<br />
Technology - Measuring and Specifying the Slipperiness of Floors<br />
Used in Live Performance Venues.<br />
12 May 2008 • www.stage-directions.com
Maggie Boland Named Managing Director of Signature Theatre<br />
Signature Theatre has<br />
announced the appointment<br />
of Maggie Boland as<br />
the new managing director<br />
beginning May 5.<br />
According to Signature’s<br />
Board Chair Sarah Valente,<br />
Maggie Boland<br />
the nationwide search for<br />
a managing director identified<br />
a strong list of qualified candidates.<br />
“We were surprised and lucky to find the perfect fit for<br />
Signature ‘right in our own backyard,’” said Valente, “Maggie<br />
Boland is contagiously enthusiastic. Her ‘can-do’ attitude will<br />
be a great match for Signature’s Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer.<br />
The Board predicts great things from their partnership.”<br />
Boland was previously the director of External Affairs<br />
at Arena <strong>Stage</strong>, a position that she had held since January<br />
2003 when she assumed responsibility for Arena’s Annual<br />
Fund, in addition to her oversight of the theatre’s marketing,<br />
public relations and sales efforts. In late 2006, Boland<br />
added the management of Arena’s $125 million Next <strong>Stage</strong><br />
Campaign to her portfolio, of which nearly $108 million has<br />
been raised to date.<br />
Boland succeeds Sam Sweet, who is now serving as<br />
the chief operating officer of the Corcoran Gallery of Art,<br />
Corcoran College of Art + Design.<br />
changing roles<br />
Manhattan Theatre Club<br />
Appoints Director of<br />
Artistic Development<br />
Jerry Patch will be<br />
joining Manhattan<br />
Theatre Club’s artistic<br />
team as the company’s<br />
new director<br />
of artistic development.<br />
Jerry Patch<br />
Patch is currently co-artistic director<br />
of San Diego’s The Old Globe where he<br />
brought to the theatre works by such<br />
renowned playwrights as Amy Freed,<br />
Howard Korder, Richard Greenberg<br />
and Donald Margulies.<br />
Prior to joining The Old Globe in<br />
2005, he was a member of the artistic<br />
team of South Coast Repertory where<br />
he coordinated the development of<br />
150 new plays, including two Pulitzer<br />
Prize winners.<br />
Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and<br />
Executive Producer Barry Grove said,<br />
“We have known and admired Jerry<br />
Patch for many years and have always<br />
had the highest regard for his talent<br />
and his role in working with writers. The<br />
Manhattan Theatre Club has had many<br />
associations with Jerry and South Coast<br />
Rep when Jerry worked there with David<br />
Emmes and Martin Benson. We, along<br />
with Acting Artistic Director Daniel<br />
Sullivan and Associate Artistic Director<br />
Mandy Greenfield, are thrilled that Jerry<br />
is making the move east to join MTC in<br />
its roles on and off Broadway.”<br />
Patch will be working with MTC’s<br />
artistic team including Daniel Sullivan,<br />
Mandy Greenfield, Amy Loe, director of<br />
artistic administration, and Lisa McNulty,<br />
associate director of artistic operations.<br />
Patch will also head up the play development<br />
office, which includes Raphael<br />
Martin, Literary Manager Raphael Martin<br />
and Annie MacRae, play development<br />
associate/sloan project manager.<br />
www.stage-directions.com • May 2008 13
Tools of the Trade<br />
USITT stole some thunder from the rodeo in Houston last month.<br />
Here are some of the products that generated buzz on the show floor.<br />
Global Design Solutions ProSM<br />
The GDS ProSM is a flexible and<br />
modular stage manager’s desk<br />
designed to meet the demands of<br />
the modern stage manager at any<br />
size venue. It features seven configurable<br />
panels, including lighting, with<br />
custom work light setting and scene<br />
selections; clock/timer, with battery<br />
backup video monitors, with reverse<br />
function and up to four inputs and<br />
front panel switching; intercom/<br />
paging interface, with up to four channels and four Aux outs;<br />
intercom aux, with 16 switch outs; audio monitor, featuring mic/<br />
line level monitoring, six selectable inputs and local and remote<br />
global mute; finally a cue light panel with up to 12 channels of<br />
control. Distributed exclusively worldwide by TMB.<br />
www.tmb.com<br />
HME WS200 Wireless Speaker Station<br />
HME’s WS200 Wireless<br />
Speaker Station is designed for<br />
two-way intercom communication<br />
when flexibility is at a<br />
premium or wires can’t be run.<br />
It features a built-in speaker,<br />
built-in microphone, visual and<br />
audible call signaling and a headset jack for added convenience.<br />
It is intended for use with a DX200 or DX100 base station<br />
and takes the place of a beltpac or an all-in-one wireless<br />
headset communicator. The WS200 operates on six 1.5V AA<br />
batteries or 100-240 VAC. It also features a selectable intercom<br />
or isolated channel option, side-tone and mic gain headset<br />
adjustments and an external 8-ohm speaker connecter.<br />
www.hme.com<br />
Martin Maxxyz Compact<br />
Martin Professional‘s<br />
Maxxyz lighting console<br />
is now available in<br />
a compact version that<br />
is designed to offer full<br />
Maxxyz functionality<br />
in a modular mid-sized<br />
design. Built of a heavy-duty aluminium, Maxxyz Compact has<br />
been designed with the touring and rental market in mind.<br />
This latest addition to the Maxxyz range features four modules<br />
requiring only USB and power connections. The modules<br />
are: Cerebrum, Programmer, Motorized Playback and Master.<br />
The Cerebrum module is a touch-screen computer and can<br />
control up to 32 DMX Universes (four direct, 28 via Art-Net or<br />
Universal USB/DMX). The Maxxyz Cerebrum can also be used<br />
stand-alone for controlling installations. The Programmer and<br />
Playback Modules are designed to make creating and running<br />
shows easier, quicker and safer. The Master Module has two<br />
faders — Grand Master and Flash Master by default.<br />
www.martin.com<br />
Meyer Sound UPQ-1P Loudspeaker<br />
Making its U.S. debut<br />
is the new self-powered<br />
UPQ-1P wide coverage loudspeaker.<br />
The UPQ-1P, part of<br />
the UltraSeries of loudspeaker<br />
products, demonstrates the<br />
same consistent and smooth<br />
sonic signature of other Meyer<br />
Sound products found in a<br />
list of theatrical productions<br />
as well as live performance<br />
venues. UPQ-1P is designed to<br />
deliver a peak power output<br />
of 136 dB SPL with low distortion, while offering flexible rigging<br />
options, wide vertical coverage and gradual off-axis rolloff to<br />
accommodate a range of installation requirements.<br />
www.meyersound.com<br />
Production Intercom IP-900 Connect<br />
Production Intercom’s IP-900 Connect is an Internet/intercom<br />
interface device that uses Voice Over Internet Protocol<br />
(VOIP) technology to allow multiple users to join an intercom<br />
system as if they were there. It connects to the intercom system<br />
with a standard three-pin XLR connection and and to the<br />
Internet via a Cat5 cable. Software allowing remote users to<br />
connect is provided on a USB memory stick and can be run<br />
from the memory stick or installed directly on the device.<br />
www.beltpack.com<br />
TheatricalHardware.com Shackle and<br />
Keeper Plates<br />
There are five different<br />
designs of Shackle Plates<br />
from TheatricalHardware.<br />
com. Each one is designed<br />
to give you as many options<br />
as possible determining<br />
the rigging requirements<br />
of scenery. The Shackle Plate with a ½” hole is the most commonly<br />
used Shackle Plate. It will accept shackles or jaw type<br />
turnbuckles with a ½” through-bolt and mounts easily to the<br />
bottom rail of any flat or for use as a floor or ceiling plate.<br />
There are four other models that feature a ½” hole, and one<br />
with a 3 /8” hole. The plates can be attached by bolting to the<br />
lowest point of the scenery directly in-line with the keeper<br />
plate bolted to the top of the scenery. The cable line used<br />
to suspend the scenery is attached to the Shackle Plate and<br />
then run though the Keeper Plate’s eye opening and finally<br />
onto the suspending point. The plates are made from heavygauge<br />
steel and pre-drilled for assembly with two ¼” bolts and<br />
two #8 or #10 flat head screws.<br />
www.theatricalhardware.com<br />
14 May 2008 • www.stage-directions.com
Light on the Subject<br />
By Steven L. Shelley<br />
A Brief Practical Guide to<br />
Lighting Paperwork,Part 2<br />
In last month’s article about lighting paperwork, I examined<br />
the categories (graphics, lists and forms) and classes<br />
(public, private and infrastructure) of paperwork, as well<br />
as the function of various pieces of paperwork and best<br />
practices for distribution and storage. The article ended with<br />
a long description of what types of paperwork needed to<br />
be included in the public packet. If that sounds like a lot of<br />
information, it is. Feel free to check out last month’s article to<br />
refresh yourself before we dive into the final part of a lighting<br />
paperwork packet, the Private Packet.<br />
Private Lighting Paperwork Packet<br />
The Private Paperwork Packet is comprised of documents<br />
I create for my own use. I rarely give out copies of these<br />
documents. Their purpose is more for my own personal use,<br />
and they are tailor-made to primarily be comprehensible to<br />
me. If others understand them, that is fine. But their primary<br />
purpose is to act as shorthand memory storage for my needs<br />
and no one else’s.<br />
My Spike Groundplan show the detailed measurements<br />
for each point on the stage as designed for Patti LuPone, who<br />
requested that the relationship between her and the rest of<br />
the stage picture be consistent and relative to the edge of<br />
the stage. These spikes and any adaptation of them were<br />
set only by myself and the stage manager, so there was no<br />
need to send this information in advance or to share it with<br />
anyone else.<br />
Focus Digital Pix (Figure 1) is comprised of miniature<br />
digital photos of fixtures focused into the back of the<br />
translucency. Once the show opened, I photographed<br />
each channel during light check and then imported them<br />
as JPGs into a single VectorWorks document. I found that<br />
the black and white photos provided better contrast and<br />
didn’t require a color printer. These<br />
photos reappear on the Hang Plots.<br />
The tour’s schedule was sporadic;<br />
there might be two or three weeks<br />
between engagements. Reviewing<br />
four pages of these photos, the night<br />
before a load-in, got the focus visually<br />
back in my head much faster than<br />
old-school written focus charts.<br />
Hang Plot Downstage (Figure 2) is<br />
an expansion of the downstage four<br />
overhead electrics in the light plot.<br />
Starting in the lower right hand corner,<br />
(1) the title block (and contact sheet)<br />
indicates cell numbers and email<br />
addresses for the company’s traveling<br />
staff. In the lower right-hand corner<br />
(2) the legend identifies the fixture<br />
type. The scale bars (3) are drawn next<br />
to each electric, in order to expedite Figure 2<br />
measuring during the hang. For system fixtures (such as<br />
backlight PARs), the plot showed channel, color, bulb type<br />
and bulb rotation. For fixtures containing a gobo, I imported<br />
images from the Web sites and listed their name, number<br />
and proper orientation. For special focus fixtures (6), I created<br />
a miniature diagram underneath each fixture. I found<br />
the focus for the template system in channels 10 through 12<br />
difficult to remember, so I created a groundplan detailing just<br />
that system (7).<br />
Hang Plot Upstage (Figure 3) expands the fifth electric<br />
and all of the deck gear in the light plot. While using many of<br />
the drafting techniques from the Downstage document, this<br />
page relied much more on the digital photos to detail the<br />
focus on the white translucency. Figure 4 shows a close-up of<br />
channel 48. While the red circle (1) shows the hanging location,<br />
electrical and gobo information, the digital photo above<br />
(1a) shows the focus photo. I placed white ovals and numbers<br />
on the photo to help visually match the unit number and<br />
approximate beam placement.<br />
Figure 1<br />
16 May 2008 • www.stage-directions.com
This relationship is replicated<br />
throughout this page. Circle 2 in<br />
Figure 3 shows the hang location of<br />
the fixtures plugged into channel 44<br />
(2a) shows their pipe end-style focus.<br />
The fixtures hung on the downstage<br />
right boom are shown in their pseudo-front<br />
elevation view (3) next to<br />
the photo showing their focus on the<br />
white scrim curtain (3a). The cluster<br />
of deck-mounted fixtures, upstage<br />
of the translucency, is plugged into<br />
channels 49 and 50. Their complex<br />
focus is detailed in the pair of adjacent<br />
photos (4a). Even the centerline<br />
fan focus of channel 43 (5a) is<br />
explained for the four deck fixtures<br />
above the picture (5).<br />
Figure 3<br />
I placed these two “Hang Plot<br />
“pages back-to-back inside a legal-sized plastic page<br />
protector. With this document in my back pocket, I could<br />
hang, color, template, troubleshoot and focus the entire<br />
plot without referring to another document.<br />
The Track Sheet (Figure 5) is a close-up of a spreadsheet<br />
document I constructed once the show was open and frozen.<br />
It’s comprised of four basic components. The title information<br />
in the upper left-hand corner states the show’s name, as well<br />
as when and where these light cues were assembled. Under<br />
that are the columns for the memory number, the count<br />
and the placement or action of each memory. The channel<br />
numbers and system identification are listed numerically<br />
to the right of the title information. The channel intensities<br />
make up the cue content, the rest of the document. Channel<br />
intensities that are bold and centered are receiving a “hard<br />
command” to move in that cue. Intensities that are non-bold<br />
and aligned to the right side of the cell aren’t moving; they’re<br />
“tracking through” the cue. The highlighted hard commands<br />
made it easier to horizontally scan across the track sheet and<br />
see what channels were moving in any cue. Scanning a single<br />
channel column allowed me to view the channel’s usage and<br />
its movement to other adjacent channels.<br />
Figure 5<br />
A f t e r p r i n t i n g<br />
and taping together<br />
pages of paper, I constructed<br />
a foldable<br />
document showing<br />
the cue “road map”<br />
for the entire production.<br />
Having this in<br />
my pocket allowed<br />
me to analyze any cue<br />
sequence and instantly<br />
be able to decide if<br />
any change should be<br />
recorded to “track” or<br />
“cue only.”<br />
These packets<br />
a n d d o c u m e n t s<br />
p r o v i d e d m e w i t h Figure 4<br />
the information and tools necessary to quickly<br />
and effectively communicate the needs of the<br />
production and be able to make rapid judgments<br />
and decisions on the fly. While they’re<br />
not the perfect combination<br />
o f d o c u m e n t s t o a p p l y t o<br />
every situation, the structure<br />
I created with this lighting<br />
p a p e r w o r k p a c k a g e a l l o w ed<br />
me to spend less time generating<br />
the same information<br />
for each stop, and more time<br />
to enjoy the great theatres,<br />
institutions and folks in each<br />
tour city.<br />
Steven L. Shelley is a lighting<br />
designer and production manager.<br />
He designs the plastic Field<br />
Templates and the VectorWorks<br />
toolkit SoftSymbols. He’s also<br />
the author of A Practical Guide<br />
to <strong>Stage</strong> Lighting.<br />
www.stage-directions.com • May 2008 17
Sound Design<br />
By Bryan Reesman<br />
Hardwired For Sound<br />
Domonic Sack, a sound man who<br />
covers all the bases.<br />
Nigel Casey as Dean Martin in The Rat Pack<br />
— Live at the Sands. Domonic Sack and Sound<br />
Associates designed the system for its West<br />
End production.<br />
Sound Designer and Installer Domonic Sack lives,<br />
breathes and eats sound. He designs for shows, installs<br />
sound systems into venues and, when he has free<br />
time, performs as a choral singer with the Metropolitan<br />
Opera, with whom he has been singing since 1989. (His first<br />
opera was Parsifal.) As executive vice president of Sound<br />
Associates, the company he has been with for 20 years, he<br />
currently averages three permanent installs per year along<br />
with 12 Broadway or off-Broadway type shows that he personally<br />
works on. Last September alone he worked on the<br />
off-Broadway Frankenstein, a musical about Ray Charles,<br />
A Tale Of Two Cities in Florida (now headed to Broadway),<br />
Three Mo’ Tenors at the Little Shubert and started a tour of<br />
3 Mo’ Divas. When <strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Directions</strong> managed to catch him<br />
sitting still for 45 minutes, we cross-examined him about<br />
his life in sound.<br />
<strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Directions</strong>: How do you balance working on shows<br />
with your installs?<br />
Domonic Sack: I don’t know. I’ve been doing it so long<br />
that it just keeps going. Right now, I’m working on the<br />
new Durham Performing Arts Center. They’re about halfway<br />
through construction and will be opening in December 2008.<br />
I’m designing a whole performing arts complex out west that<br />
is slated to open a year and a half from now. And we’re bidding<br />
on I don’t know how many things. We work with many<br />
different designers. It’s good because I try to learn from all<br />
of them.<br />
I have to say that as far as the theatre design build thing,<br />
we could probably be doing 10 times the amount of work if<br />
we wanted to. There seems to be such a dramatic need for it.<br />
The consultants do a spectacular job, but I think the process<br />
gets in the way, and because of it, the majority of the money<br />
is spent on a big paper trail. There is a lot of bureaucracy<br />
involved in it, especially when it’s a public works project. The<br />
accountability on these projects is good, and I understand<br />
completely why it has to be done, but I’m just saying there’s<br />
a tremendous amount of money that is spent, and unfortunately<br />
the project is the one that loses.<br />
How do the sensibilities of working on rock shows cross<br />
over to doing Broadway musicals and cross over into<br />
doing operas?<br />
I always try to bring one area into the other. When I’m<br />
doing the classical stuff, I think many times people feel like<br />
they have all of these special needs, that what they’re producing<br />
wants to be different than a rock show. It’s my experience<br />
that they need everything that a rock show has, and<br />
usually then some, only because you need to have the tools.<br />
How you use the tools is really the important thing.<br />
I like the cardioid speaker technology for the classical<br />
shows, for the Philharmonic shows and for the operas<br />
because we try to keep the stage sound as acoustic as possible.<br />
Even then, when you start to think about what’s really<br />
happening on the stage, when you’re outdoors there are<br />
really no side walls, so that whole perspective is changed<br />
anyway. What I don’t want to do is contaminate the microphones.<br />
I like to keep a lot of the sound off the stage, and the<br />
cardioid system is a very big help. You just try to take advantage<br />
of the technology when you can.<br />
18 May 2008 • www.stage-directions.com
Hunter Foster (left) as Victor<br />
Frankenstein and Steve Blanchard as<br />
the Creature in Frankenstein, an off-<br />
Broadway musical that premiered in<br />
Fall 2007, with sound by Domonic Sack<br />
and Sound Associates.<br />
Carol rosegg<br />
Carol rosegg<br />
Carol rosegg<br />
Sack was involved with the Florida premiere<br />
of A Tale of Two Cities at Asolo and<br />
now its planned Broadway transfer.<br />
Another moment from Frankenstein<br />
You have to deal with what people have for rentals. If<br />
you’re mixing the Hartford Symphony and there is no cardioid<br />
gear out or something that you’re used to, you’ve got<br />
to use what they have. That’s the one thing about classical<br />
music, they have these relationships, and they’re usually<br />
good about keeping those relationships alive. A symphony<br />
orchestra will use a sound engineer and contractor for years<br />
on end, and I’ve always liked that. They like to think that they<br />
developed this sound together. I’ve always been very fond<br />
of that because I think it’s true in some respects. The speaker<br />
systems are the same, depending upon how many people<br />
you’re trying to cover and what you’re trying to do.<br />
As a sound designer, how do you bring your aesthetics<br />
into installing sound systems?<br />
I try to put it all together. I try to put a system together.<br />
Here’s the key to it: I think the biggest mistake that people<br />
make when they design a sound system is that they’re always<br />
trying to design the perfect sound system for the theatre.<br />
This is not what the theatre needs. They need the tools.<br />
They don’t need the perfect sound system, because the fact<br />
is when Tony Bennett or Metallica come into your theatre,<br />
they’re going to want to use their sound system for their production.<br />
And for you to say your speaker system is the most<br />
perfect thing in the world and they have to use it is just such a<br />
mistake. I think everyone loses in those particular situations.<br />
Present something to them so they’ll want to use your sound<br />
system. That’s the key to it — don’t fight it. Usually they’ll come<br />
around. Those are the kinds of things you have to do. If you want<br />
them to use your sound system, the best thing you can do as a<br />
theatre owner is to make it available. Saves them time and that’s<br />
saving money, which everyone understands.<br />
Make sure you have a paging system that covers everything.<br />
Make sure you address the problem areas of your theatre<br />
because if they come in for a show, they don’t have time<br />
to put speakers everywhere that they need them. Make it easy<br />
to interface with your system so they can just plug into your<br />
DSP and send the signal. Have proper power and disconnects<br />
in the right spot so they don’t have to run 200 feet of feeder.<br />
These are real tools. They don’t need this other stuff. They need<br />
a loading dock where they can get three trucks up there and<br />
stay parked there for a whole show and take the empties out<br />
during the show and not take up stage space. They need a<br />
broadcast hook-up outside of the loading dock so the broadcast<br />
trucks can come in and tie into the same power system.<br />
It sounds like the secret to being both a good sound<br />
designer and a good sound installer is: As a designer, be<br />
flexible to work with what’s available, and as an installer,<br />
make things flexible for what people bring in.<br />
Exactly, you need to have the tools in place. The sound<br />
system is the main left and right arrays, and the speakers are<br />
secondary to anything else that you’re doing. Because with<br />
the speakers that are out there — whether it’s JBL, EV, EAW,<br />
Meyer, or whoever it is — everyone is producing a good<br />
product. Many times you look on a rider and they’ll say, “We<br />
want a line array.” They don’t say, “We have to have Meyer.”<br />
Sometimes they do — if they’re really, really into what they’re<br />
doing. But the majority of the time, if you lay out a nice program<br />
for them, that takes you a long way.<br />
www.stage-directions.com • May 2008 19
School Spotlight<br />
By Logan Molyneux<br />
Center: Hamlet<br />
(Matt Neves ) &<br />
Ophelia (Jane<br />
Doe). Matt<br />
Neves was a<br />
national Irene<br />
Ryan finalist.<br />
Direction In<br />
All Things<br />
BYU’s theatre program guides its<br />
students to success<br />
The costume<br />
designs for<br />
Ophelia and<br />
Hamlet by grad<br />
student Erin<br />
Dinnell Bjorn<br />
frame the picture.<br />
“We have to make sure<br />
we don’t overuse the<br />
students because there<br />
is so much going on.”<br />
— Rory Scanlon<br />
Near the end of the 2007 Fall semester, a couple of<br />
Brigham Young University theatre professors were<br />
speaking with Department Chair Rodger Sorensen<br />
about the success one student had directing a student production<br />
for class credit. “It’s the best work I’ve seen her do<br />
since she has come here,” Sorensen said.<br />
Sorensen said he pulled the student aside later to compliment<br />
her, and then suggested she shift her focus from acting<br />
(which had been her focus so far) to directing. Barta Heiner,<br />
who runs the school’s acting major, was one of the professors<br />
Sorensen was speaking with. After she overcame her surprise<br />
that Sorensen could be so bold, she thanked him.<br />
Janet Swenson, an associate chair who teaches costume<br />
and set design, said such conversations<br />
are common in BYU’s<br />
Department of Theatre and Media<br />
Arts because the department focuses<br />
on giving students opportunities and<br />
then mentoring to help them reach<br />
their potential. “So that not only are<br />
they capable of doing what they<br />
do,” Swenson said, “but they have<br />
a love of doing it that will carry on.”<br />
Students work closely with at least<br />
two and sometimes more faculty mentors who help with<br />
everything from choosing classes to suggestions on design<br />
and directing projects.<br />
Rory Scanlon, associate dean and design instructor, said<br />
their work is somewhat like teaching a child to ride a bicycle.<br />
“When we see a student who we think is really ready,<br />
we just kind of let go.” In the end, that means students are<br />
doing well over half the work on the 450 performances the<br />
department’s Design and Production team produces each<br />
season. Students do half or more of the work on makeup<br />
and costumes, scenic design, lighting design and sound<br />
design for live theatre, musical events, dance performances,<br />
film and television. That’s not to mention all the acting and<br />
directing going on in two to three theatre performances a<br />
week in the school’s five theatres.<br />
“We tell our students, ‘The problem is not finding something<br />
for you to do, the problem is getting you to graduate,’”<br />
Scanlon said. “We have to make sure we don’t overuse<br />
the students because there is so much going on.”<br />
Building a Program for the Students<br />
It’s taken more than 100 years for the BYU theatre<br />
department to reach this point of busy activity. In 1901,<br />
Miriam Nelke began teaching theatre courses at BYU, and<br />
now a 223-seat theatre named after her is dedicated solely<br />
to student productions. The program expanded with the<br />
help of T. Earl and Kathryn Pardoe, for whom the department’s<br />
largest theatre is named, and Harold Hansen, who<br />
added many faculty positions and expanded course offerings.<br />
In 1953, BYU became one of the first universities in<br />
the country to have a formal film<br />
production program, and in 1974 the<br />
theatre and film programs merged<br />
to form the Department of Theatre<br />
and Media Arts. Today, the department<br />
has about 450 students (about<br />
240 in the four theatre majors) and<br />
21 full-time and 54 part-time faculty<br />
members.<br />
All BYU’s theatres have a full lighting<br />
stock and are currently being<br />
outfitted with sound and video recording systems so productions<br />
can be taped and aired on BYU’s nationwide and<br />
international cable channels. The Nelke student theatre<br />
has a stage lift in it and the back of the stage can open<br />
up into the black-box Margetts theatre, so there can be<br />
an expanded stage with audience on both sides. Two theatres<br />
have fly-line systems and the Pardoe Theatre has a<br />
built-in electronic revolve.<br />
BYU’s theatre offerings are a BA in theatre education,<br />
a BFA in acting, a BFA in music dance theatre, and a BA in<br />
theatre arts with emphases in directing, playwriting, theatre<br />
design and technology and general theatre studies. The<br />
majors take about 60 hours of required course work.<br />
Sorensen said some students seek employment after<br />
earning a bachelor’s degree, but many choose to pursue<br />
graduate studies, and BYU’s liberal-arts based theatre<br />
majors help them place well in graduate programs.<br />
20 May 2008 • www.stage-directions.com
School Spotlight<br />
“They come with a pretty broad experience because they’ve<br />
worked in the shop, they’ve designed on stage, they’ve<br />
acted in performances,” Scanlon said. “So graduate programs<br />
really like them because they have that experience<br />
and they get put into assistantships very quickly.”<br />
Building Moral Students<br />
But what really sets BYU apart is that it is owned by<br />
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and so<br />
requires high ethical and moral standards of its students.<br />
“There’s an honor code on campus,” Scanlon said, “and<br />
students do agree to live a certain way and dress a certain<br />
way and even do their hair a certain way. A lot of people<br />
find that really restrictive, but most of our students find<br />
that it really frees them up to take what they believe and<br />
what they want to learn and marry those two together<br />
and help build them as an entire human being.” BYU<br />
admits students who are not members of the church,<br />
but they must also sign the honor code and receive an<br />
ecclesiastical endorsement from the leader of their preferred<br />
denomination. All students are required to take a<br />
substantial number of religion courses, almost enough to<br />
minor in religion. Swenson said, “I think that when the students<br />
leave here they are very ethical beings. They have a<br />
good work ethic and they have a good personal ethic and<br />
they’re able to get along with others easily.”<br />
The department works closely with the church to support<br />
the Young Ambassadors, a highly produced, 28-member<br />
show choir that tours internationally. “The church<br />
missionary department uses them as a door opening,” said<br />
Tim Threlfall, chair of the MDT program. “They were the first<br />
church representatives to be in China years ago, in 1979.”<br />
Threlfall said about 500 students try out for the 28 slots.<br />
Similarly, about 250 students audition for the selective MDT<br />
program, but only 16 are accepted each year. At the end<br />
of the semester, Threlfall sets up showcases in New York<br />
and Los Angeles theatres for MDT and acting students to<br />
impress agents and talent scouts.<br />
When the students are ready to graduate, their professors<br />
have high hopes for what they will be and do with their<br />
careers. Swenson said commercial success isn’t their only<br />
measuring stick — they hope students will be true to their<br />
beliefs. “What we want to do is to create people who know<br />
who they are and what they are, so when they go they can<br />
be stars as artists and as people.” Heiner said she wants her<br />
acting students to have versatility so they can play a whole<br />
bunch of different characters.<br />
“We hope,” Threlfall said, “and this sounds clichéd,<br />
that they use their talents well. And that may be teaching<br />
school, that may be doing the church road show or play<br />
in a day, or they may be on Broadway.” Wherever they<br />
work, Sorensen said, theatre is about telling stories. “I<br />
hope they can tell stories that are meaningful to them in<br />
truthful ways and in ways that will engage and entertain<br />
audiences to help them see the world in clearer ways. And<br />
that’s entertainment.”<br />
“Graduate programs really like them<br />
because they have that experience<br />
and they get put into assistantships<br />
very quickly.” — Rory Scanlon<br />
The cast of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, produced in the summer of 2007. It was directed by George<br />
Nelson with Eric Fielding as scenic designer and Jessica Cowden designing costumes.<br />
The BYU fall 2007 Touring Shakespeare production of Twelfth Night. Every fall, BYU takes a “mini”<br />
Shakespeare throughout the state, performing for thousands of elementary school students.<br />
The opening scene from BYU’s production of Oklahoma, with scenic design by undergraduate Jennifer Mortensen<br />
www.stage-directions.com • May 2008 21
Educational Feature<br />
By Lisa Mulcahy<br />
The Skinny On Scholarships<br />
Financial assistance for your training is<br />
easier to find than you think — if you<br />
research and apply the right way.<br />
Hofstra’s production of Seven Against Thebes.<br />
If you're about to enter a theatre training program, no<br />
doubt you’re worried about paying for it. Here are a few<br />
steps to help you take advantage of all your funding<br />
opportunities.<br />
Start Your Search At Home Base<br />
Your first move in seeking financial aid should be to first<br />
approach what's closest to you. There is readily available funding<br />
from school, work or group affiliations you may have.<br />
First, approach the financial aid office of the school you'll<br />
be going to as early as you can. It doesn't matter whether you<br />
heard through the grapevine that your school is tight-fisted; in<br />
reality, there could be a very generous reservoir of assistance<br />
available to you. Schedule an appointment in person or by<br />
phone with an aid officer, and ask about direct assistance,<br />
work-study programs and opportunities for federal or state<br />
grants and loans. Be upfront about the fact that you're eager<br />
to explore every conceivable funding possibility you could be<br />
right for. Make their job easier by clearly laying out your current<br />
financial situation (your ballpark income or that of your<br />
family's, your employment status, your realistic ability to work<br />
while attending school during the duration of your training).<br />
Take careful notes on the evaluation your aid officer provides<br />
you and make sure to take every information packet, Web site<br />
address and application form you're offered.<br />
Next, make a list of every educational institution you've ever<br />
attended, every job you've ever had that you've done well at<br />
(especially if this employment was through an established company<br />
or corporation) and every local club, organization and religious/community<br />
group you've ever belonged to or currently<br />
belong to. Use the Web or phone book to compile contact info<br />
for each listing. Call or e-mail each possibility. For schools, ask<br />
what kind of financial aid might be available for alumni. For<br />
places of employment, inquire about tuition aid programs via<br />
human resources (you might also ask your parents to check with<br />
their employers — often, children of employees are eligible for<br />
aid as well). For clubs, organizations or religious/community<br />
groups, make a point of speaking to someone you know and ask<br />
about annual scholarship availability — most local entities will<br />
have at least one offer to its membership per year. Follow up on<br />
every positive response by obtaining all pertinent application<br />
materials, instruction forms and essential contact names within<br />
a day of your initial phone call, either through an in-person visit,<br />
or through a letter of request. (Some of the material you need,<br />
of course, may already be available on the Web.)<br />
Once you've gathered all this info, sit down and go through<br />
each option. Read every bit of information thoroughly and,<br />
after you fully understand a funding source's specific requirements,<br />
deadlines, cash limits and overall feasibility, decide<br />
whether it's appropriate for you to pursue. Some sources<br />
will have to be eliminated immediately (you can't apply for a<br />
computer careers scholarship through your dad's company<br />
if you're a playwriting student); others won't be a financial fit<br />
(you may be in an income bracket that would disqualify you<br />
from some need-based capped scholarships, for example);<br />
others will offer so little money they aren't worth the bother,<br />
or wouldn't award you funding by the time you'll need it.<br />
Chances are good, though, that you'll find a number of<br />
resources that fit your needs. Now that you've identified the<br />
right sources to plumb, add up all of the money these sources<br />
could collectively supply you with, assuming you received it.<br />
Contrast this total number with the amount of aid you realistically<br />
need. You'll instantly know if you'll be covered through<br />
these assistance sources, or if you'll need to go after more aid.<br />
Learn About Grants<br />
If you do need to go after additional assistance, grants could<br />
be your answer. Simply defined, a grant (or fellowship) is a<br />
financial reward given to an individual by a foundation or corporate<br />
grantmaker that can be used for educational expenses,<br />
research or toward the completion of a specific work project.<br />
Many foundation grants are given directly to schools, which<br />
then distribute them to deserving students. Other grants are<br />
available directly to an individual and are applied for much in<br />
the same way as traditional scholarships.<br />
The Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation in New<br />
York City is a terrific example of how a grant-making organization<br />
provides maximum benefits to young artists. JLPAF<br />
was created to honor and celebrate the creative spirit of the<br />
phenomenally talented Jonathan Larson, who composed<br />
Rent before his death in 1996. Committed to helping the<br />
individual artist, as well as nonprofit theatres that develop<br />
fresh musical theatre works, JLPAF provides either general or<br />
project support to help them further their work.<br />
"Our winners are compelled to do what they do, and are<br />
passionate about pushing the form of musical theatre in new<br />
and innovative directions," explains Nancy Kassak Diekmann,<br />
the foundation's executive director. "Although many of them<br />
are not writing 'traditional' musical theatre, they are all highly<br />
skilled at their craft."<br />
22 May 2008 • www.stage-directions.com
If you define yourself as a highly motivated artist with very<br />
specific project experience under your belt (a play or solo<br />
performance project, for example), pursuing a grant may be<br />
for you. Start learning about the specific grants that might<br />
work for your situation via the Foundation Center, which provides<br />
a wealth of data about foundations and grant-makers<br />
online (go to www.foundationcenter.org). The Foundation<br />
Center's incredibly comprehensive Web site offers application<br />
basics, lists of over 6,000 funders, proposal writing tips<br />
and an interactive online librarian service; It's the best place<br />
to immerse yourself in the process, period.<br />
Consider Merit-Based Aid<br />
A growing number of colleges are actually rewarding<br />
their students financially for doing exemplary work. Hofstra<br />
University in Hempstead, N.Y., long regarded as one of the<br />
country's top theatre training institutions, gives deserving<br />
first-year students its Activity Grant award. The Activity Grant is<br />
initially awarded based on a student's audition and interview,<br />
and then can be renewed based on that student's ongoing<br />
display of leadership and theatre department activity.<br />
"The initial grant is given on the basis of potential," says<br />
Jean Giebel, chair of Hofstra's drama and dance department.<br />
"From that point on, the student has to maintain participation<br />
in a range of ways, from performance or crew work on<br />
any production by the university theatre, to honors/thesis<br />
projects, to directing projects. We also ask students to do volunteer<br />
service for the theatre department at various activities<br />
throughout the year, from benefit productions to conferences<br />
to aiding prospective students." Giebel also evaluates students<br />
based on their overall commitment to daily academic discipline.<br />
"We take citizenship into consideration: Does a student<br />
come to class on time? Does a student come to department<br />
symposiums? If a student shows up, and is an active member<br />
of the theatre community, then that student is participating."<br />
Consult your school's drama department administration<br />
head directly about similar merit awards. Even though<br />
you've already been accepted into a specific drama program,<br />
a merit scholarship or grant usually requires you to submit<br />
application paperwork all over again (most often, you'll be<br />
asked for letters of recommendation outside of the school's<br />
jurisdiction, as well as a resume and headshot). You may also<br />
be required to maintain a specific GPA to maintain this type<br />
of aid. Merit-based aid is usually available only to a limited<br />
number of students, so apply as soon as possible.<br />
Put Your Best Foot Forward<br />
Go over each line of your application with a fine-toothed<br />
comb. It's surprisingly easy to misinterpret application<br />
requirements, accidentally forget the most vital point (like<br />
your name), or make sloppy spelling or punctuation errors.<br />
Even the tiniest mistake can work against you. "Read and<br />
follow directions carefully, and call for advice if you don't<br />
understand," urges Kassak Diekmann.<br />
A few nuts-and-bolts tips to keep in mind before you<br />
e-mail or snail-mail off any completed application package:<br />
• Make sure you've submitted exactly what was asked for<br />
— forms, essays, samples, recommendations, photos,<br />
etc. Don't overload your package with extra promotional<br />
material (glowing reviews, extra work examples,<br />
etc.) if it isn't desired.<br />
• Double-check over every square inch of the material<br />
for errors. Then put the application aside for the night<br />
and double-check it one last time the next morning.<br />
• Make two copies of every complete application package<br />
you send out for your files.<br />
• Create a master submission log, noting the mail-out<br />
date of each application you submit, the full address<br />
of the person or department you sent it to and the<br />
contents of the application package. Also note the<br />
approximate date by which you are scheduled to<br />
receive a reply, if that info is known.<br />
Follow Up The Smart Way<br />
You may receive a letter from a source you've applied to<br />
asking for additional information or clarifications. Follow<br />
up by sending whatever is requested immediately —<br />
that's within 24 hours of receiving the request, no exceptions.<br />
It's a good idea to call the source to let them know<br />
you received the request and that your response is on its<br />
way, too.<br />
Is it OK to check back on your application if you haven't<br />
heard from a source after a good chunk of time? Yes and<br />
no. In most cases, you will hear back by a specified date;<br />
as a general rule of (polite) thumb, wait an extra week to<br />
two weeks past that time before contacting the source.<br />
Approach your source carefully. Writing is always preferable<br />
to calling; send a short note (either by e-mail or snail<br />
mail) courteously asking if a decision has been made.<br />
Wait a few days for a response before calling, and again,<br />
politely inquire about any potential decision.<br />
Be prepared for anything — good news, or yes, bad<br />
news. Whatever happens, it's never wrong to express<br />
your thanks for the source's consideration, either over<br />
the phone or in a second note. Don't be discouraged if<br />
some of the aid you've applied for doesn't come through;<br />
the financial aid process often boils down to a numbers<br />
game. Increase your odds by applying to as many different<br />
sources as possible and you'll definitely have success<br />
in the long run.<br />
RESOURCE ALERT<br />
Here are some additional online resources to help you in your funding search.<br />
Fastweb (www.fastweb.com), a free scholarship search Union Plus Scholarship Database (www.unionplus.org)<br />
engine that’s comprehensive and easy to use.<br />
provides state-by-state scholarship listings and information.<br />
Petersons.com (www.petersons.com) has a great wealth of<br />
financial aid info, plus a database of over a million available<br />
scholarships, grants and academic awards.<br />
The College Board Scholarship Search (www.college<br />
board.com) provides users with the chance to create their<br />
own profiles, seek specific funders and calculate costs.<br />
www.stage-directions.com • May 2008 23
Theatre Space<br />
By Steve Shull<br />
Audio for the<br />
Audience<br />
Centennial Hall<br />
Exterior of Centennial Hall at the<br />
University of Arizona in Tucson.<br />
Centennial Hall at the University of Arizona<br />
embarked on a large audio upgrade<br />
in order to keep its audience.<br />
Historic Centennial Hall is located on the campus of<br />
the University of Arizona. The university, through its<br />
in-house agency UAPresents, is the largest performing<br />
arts presenter in southern Arizona. A wide range of event<br />
types use the hall to reach diverse audiences: school children<br />
seeing their very first live event, programs that feature local<br />
artists or world-class events that attract the entire Tucson<br />
community. Designed by campus architect Roy Place and<br />
opened in 1937, the hall is a beautiful Italian Romanesque<br />
revival and was intended for band or orchestral concerts,<br />
school convocations and commencements.<br />
Commitment to the Community<br />
The university has maintained a commitment to the<br />
Tucson community to provide the best live entertainment<br />
venue in the region. The type of amplified events presented<br />
in the hall has developed to include pop, jazz and legitimate<br />
theatre performances. However, while these events<br />
are critical in building and maintaining an audience base,<br />
they are not well suited for a hall with the original acoustics<br />
as constructed in Centennial Hall. The architectural<br />
characteristics for a hall without amplification will often<br />
feature hard smooth finishes on many of the walls, floors<br />
and ceiling. Some of these surfaces will be angled to reflect<br />
acoustic energy into the audience seating level. This type<br />
of acoustic space reacts negatively to amplified vocals and<br />
music. Many loudspeaker systems will produce sound that<br />
reflects off these surfaces and causes a substantial loss of<br />
intelligibility (the audience must be able to make out the<br />
words) and clarity to the vocals. In other words, the audio<br />
program might be loud enough, but the audience will have<br />
difficulty in following the words. The bad news is that when<br />
the volume is increased the intelligibility gets even worse.<br />
Patrons very quickly become frustrated, and over repeated<br />
bad experiences will stop attending events. Once that happens<br />
it is very hard to convince them to return.<br />
This is what happened at Centennial Hall and is actually a<br />
common problem in many historic theatres and auditoriums<br />
originally designed for acoustic performance, but which now<br />
need successful amplification to survive. What is noteworthy<br />
about the Centennial Hall situation is that none of the people<br />
in this article renovate sound systems for a living, but all of<br />
them realized that a solution had to be found, financed and<br />
implemented if the hall was to have any chance at keeping<br />
patrons coming to shows.<br />
Putting the Team Together<br />
Natalie Bohnet, the executive director of the UAPresents,<br />
is responsible for all of the activities at the hall and one of<br />
her many contributions to this project was to provide the<br />
background and rational and advocacy for the audio renovation<br />
to the university. She credits George Davis, provost<br />
emeritus, and Joel Valdez, vice president of finance, as two<br />
key administrators that supported the project and lobbied<br />
and guided the project through the university process to get<br />
funded and scheduled.<br />
Gary Lotze is the operations manager for Centennial Hall,<br />
which means he has to know everything about anything that<br />
happens (or doesn’t happen) in the hall. This project was just<br />
one task on his overall “to do” list. Lotze worked with Bohnet<br />
to pull information and budgets together and he also coordinated<br />
the schedule, freed up the staff to do the work and<br />
verified the rigging and hang points.<br />
Mike Reinhard is the Centennial Hall sound engineer,<br />
the audio point of contact for all of the events that play at<br />
Centennial Hall. One part of his job is to try to help the visiting<br />
audio engineer successfully set up and focus the touring<br />
loudspeaker rig and then convince the engineer that turning<br />
the amplified level up will not help the problem. Luckily,<br />
Reinhard has close to 20 years of live audio experience. He<br />
can quickly communicate the acoustic problems and the<br />
best solutions for the room to a highly experienced road<br />
engineer and also help a young engineer get the best sound<br />
possible in the hall.<br />
The company that provided the new system is Arizona<br />
Pro Audio, owned by Mark Cowburn, a respected member<br />
of the audio community who learned the business from the<br />
Godfather of Broadway Sound, Abe Jacob. Cowburn has had<br />
a continuing relationship with Centennial Hall, supplying<br />
them with rental equipment and systems to augment the<br />
24 May 2008 • www.stage-directions.com
“It was clear that this configuration<br />
was the one that would meet the<br />
needs of their clients.”<br />
— Mark Cowburn<br />
The EAW 730s on Matt Marcus’ storage dollies<br />
house gear to support the events.<br />
Setting Goals, Choosing Systems<br />
The end goal of any sound system is<br />
to provide to each patron an excellent<br />
listening experience. That seems like<br />
a terribly simple goal, but in a hall like<br />
Centennial there is a large seat count in<br />
a large single-seating-level room that<br />
was not designed for sound reinforcement.<br />
The audio experience of a patron<br />
in row 15 at the center will be different<br />
from a patron seated in row 35 on the<br />
side of the house. What is most important<br />
though, is that they both have<br />
good listening experiences.<br />
What contributes to a good experience?<br />
In any seat, there has to be<br />
intelligibility, the audio image must<br />
appear to come from the stage and<br />
the audio must be dynamic (able to be<br />
loud or soft, depending on the performance).<br />
The huge qualifier in meeting<br />
all of these requirements is the level<br />
of expectation from the audience. Our<br />
modern audience has the opportunity<br />
to enjoy high quality audio in every<br />
moment of the day and night — the<br />
system would have to provide the highquality<br />
sound patrons have come to<br />
expect and demand. Lotze, Reinhard<br />
and Cowburn chose several industry<br />
favorite systems to review in order<br />
to make sure the new system’s audio<br />
quality would be impressive.<br />
Cowburn arranged a demo of EAW<br />
730 line arrays at the hall. The configuration<br />
presented had 11 of the 730s<br />
on each side of the stage and eight<br />
sub-woofers. The demo also included<br />
the EAW UX8800 digital signal process<br />
with Gunness Focusing processing.<br />
This processor provides tremendous<br />
flexibility for the performer to access<br />
controls like input gain, equalization<br />
and signal gain while also providing<br />
factory preset processing that maintains<br />
maximum sound levels while sus-<br />
www.stage-directions.com • May 2008 25
Theater Space<br />
Daniel Snyder<br />
Dionne Warwick was the first artist to perform with the new sound system.<br />
taining sound quality. This combination provides almost<br />
unlimited control access of the loudspeaker system for an<br />
expert, yet safe and simple presets for a less experienced<br />
audio engineer.<br />
When the group listened to the EAW rig in Centennial<br />
Hall with the UX8800 processor, the choice was clear-cut.<br />
“Since we have a similar rig that we have toured with,<br />
I was pretty confident that this was the right choice,” says<br />
Cowburn. “When we brought the EAW UX8800 online, it<br />
was clear that this configuration was the one that would<br />
meet the needs of their clients. The performance of the UX<br />
8800 software is stunning.”<br />
Matt Marcus, the sound designer/technician for the U<br />
of A theatre department, developed specialized speaker<br />
dollies so that the speaker system can be stored on wheels,<br />
enabling it to be reconfigured and hung simply and consistently<br />
with minimum supervision. Since Centennial<br />
Hall will provide their space in any configuration a client<br />
requests, the ability to remove and store the house system<br />
was an important time and labor consideration.<br />
In addition to the loudspeaker system, the renovated<br />
sound system had several other key components upgraded.<br />
The most vital and exciting of these was the provision<br />
of a Yamaha PM5D-RH console for front of house mix.<br />
Because Centennial Hall chose this console, touring road<br />
mixers around the country now know that they’ll have an<br />
opportunity to mix a great show in this venue. All venues<br />
develop reputations in the touring industry. The equipment<br />
selections made by the Centennial Hall team has put<br />
them on many touring engineer’s “Favorite Hall” lists.<br />
Thanks to the trusting relationship between university<br />
administration, staff and the audio supplier, the upgrade<br />
was a success. It’s a reward for both the artists who perform<br />
in the hall and the community that continues to support<br />
a major cultural venue.<br />
Steve Shull is a member of the Theatre Department at SUNY<br />
Oswego and has been an audio mixer and consultant for many<br />
years. His Broadway show credits include: Les Misérables,<br />
Cats, Fences, Grand Hotel, Little Shop of Horrors and The<br />
Rocky Horror Show.<br />
26 May 2008 • www.stage-directions.com
Theatre Spotlight<br />
By John Bliss<br />
New Voices and Social<br />
Consciousness<br />
Dobama doesn’t shy away from raising the issues.<br />
When Dobama was founded, the theatre scene in<br />
Cleveland consisted primarily of the Cleveland<br />
Playhouse and a smattering of community theatres.<br />
Nearly 50 years later, theatre is booming in Cleveland,<br />
but Dobama remains one of the few theatres dedicated<br />
to producing new and challenging work by contemporary<br />
playwrights. Dobama is also committed to developing<br />
young artists, through such programs as the Marilyn<br />
Bianchi Kids’ Playwriting Festival. We talked with Dobama’s<br />
Artistic Director Joyce Casey about their history, mission<br />
and penchant for tackling difficult topics.<br />
Mission: “Producing the work of contemporary playwrights<br />
to provoke discussion about the issues we all face.”<br />
Recent Productions: Highway Ulysses, by Rinde Eckard;<br />
Homebody/Kabul, by Tony Kushner; Take Me Out, by Richard<br />
Greenberg<br />
The name comes from… the first letters of the names of<br />
the founders: DOnald Bianchi, BArry Silverman, and MArk<br />
Silverberg and MArilyn Bianchi.<br />
And it’s pronounced… to rhyme with Alabama, not<br />
Barack.<br />
Donald Bianchi’s philosophy: “The playwright is the<br />
supreme intellect of the theatre. Without the playwright,<br />
we would all be bowling.”<br />
Anything else? “The poet or painter can wait for the Muse<br />
to descend. In the theatre, the Muse is scheduled for 8:30<br />
on Wednesday night.”<br />
Five words that describe Dobama: impassioned, intuitive,<br />
creative, perceptive, appreciative.<br />
For 40 years, we performed in… a converted bowling<br />
alley with 11-foot ceilings.<br />
Our new home<br />
is… a former YMCA<br />
now owned by the<br />
Cleveland Heights<br />
library. One performance<br />
space was a<br />
swimming pool, the<br />
other a gymnasium.<br />
Joyce Casey<br />
Young artists are<br />
important to Dobama because… we want the theatre to still<br />
to be around in 20 or 30 years. It rejuvenates us to have young<br />
people around — their energy and creativity is life-affirming.<br />
The best thing about the Playwriting Festival is … seeing a<br />
first or second grade student watching their play come to life<br />
onstage.<br />
Most exciting production: Angels in America. What we didn’t<br />
have in theatricality, we made up for with intimacy.<br />
Most satisfying experience: Our five year collaboration with<br />
Karamu House, one of the first African-American theatres in the<br />
country.<br />
The most rewarding part of my job is… watching the work<br />
grow onstage.<br />
The hardest part of my job is… having dreams and having to<br />
figure out how to pay for them.<br />
Coming up: Migration, the first part of a cycle of plays about<br />
Cleveland, written by local playwrights Eric Coble, Eric Schmiedl,<br />
and Nina Domingue.<br />
This is a busy time because… we’re raising funds to remodel<br />
our new space. The capital campaign is an enormous challenge<br />
— it will take the theatre to next level. It’s a time of great<br />
potential.<br />
Todd Krispinsky and Joel Hammer in Dobama’s production of Caryl Churchill’s A Number<br />
Victor Dickerson in Suzan-Lori Park’s In The Blood at Dobama<br />
Scott Miller and Andrea Belser in a scene<br />
from I Have Before Me A Remarkable<br />
Document Given To Me By A Young Lady<br />
from Rwanda<br />
www.stage-directions.com • May 2008 27
Feature<br />
By Kevin M. Mitchell<br />
Pittsburgh Quantum and the<br />
Art of Found Theatre<br />
The journey is the destination<br />
— all the way to Madrid.<br />
Hugo Armstrong, Mark D. Staley and Robin Walsh in Thérèse Raquin. Scenic design by<br />
Tony Ferrieri and lighting design by Scott Nelson.<br />
Too often there’s lip service given a theatre “challenging”<br />
one’s audience. How about this? Changing the<br />
locale of the show for each production — cemetery,<br />
swimming pool, old movie theatre…<br />
“We’re a homeless theatre,” jokes Production Manager<br />
Scott Nelson, only to quickly take back his words lest he<br />
convey the wrong impression. See, while it’s not uncommon<br />
for theatres to move from one space to another before they<br />
settle into their own brick and mortar home, for Quantum<br />
Theatre of Pittsburgh, the journey is the destination.<br />
“The environments contribute to the plays,” says Karla<br />
Boos, founder and artistic director. “Sometimes what we do<br />
is impossible! But it’s so good aesthetically. Our artists love to<br />
go to unusual places that put them inside the work.”<br />
Boos, who has roots in the Pittsburgh region, was a graduate<br />
student at CalArts in Los Angeles studying acting when<br />
Quantum’s seeds were planted. “I knew I wanted to make my<br />
own work, and it didn’t seem that L.A. was there for me,” she<br />
says. “I came to Pittsburgh, not expecting to so deeply fall in<br />
love with the architecture,<br />
geography and<br />
the can-do spirit of<br />
the people.”<br />
Her first production<br />
in 1990 was a work<br />
based on the short<br />
novel by Mexican Juan<br />
Rulfo Pedro Páramo.<br />
“We made an original<br />
work based on the<br />
novel, and staged it in<br />
an abandoned building.”<br />
Pittsburgh audiences<br />
were startled<br />
by the quality of the<br />
work and the fact that<br />
the first-time production<br />
had an equity contract (Boos had gotten some grant<br />
money for it as well).<br />
It got the ball rolling, she tells, and it fueled the need to<br />
find new spaces for the next production. But here’s where<br />
Quantum’s story becomes unusual: Boos kept it on the proverbial<br />
bus.<br />
“Quickly, the idea of doing works in ‘found spaces’ became<br />
exciting to the artists and attracted good designers and directors,”<br />
says Boos. Quantum was “substantial” by 2000, and<br />
today they have 500 subscribers doing four shows a season.<br />
They enjoy audiences from 1,500 to 2,800 people, depending<br />
on the show, the space, and in some cases, the weather.<br />
Boos stresses that it is extremely challenging creating<br />
a new work in a new space, but she seems to relish in the<br />
mountain moving of it all. “I’m sure we spend more resources<br />
on making our environment than if we had bought a building<br />
and made a beautiful theatre,” she says.<br />
Other spaces “found” include the country’s oldest cemetery,<br />
Allegheny Cemetery. “It was beautifully lit, and the<br />
headstone in front of the performance area read, ‘Earnest<br />
Guest, Age 4’ — it was very moving.”<br />
Quantum’s production of Zola’s Thérèse Raquin took place in a swimming pool in the basement of the first library Andrew<br />
Carnegie built.<br />
Just Ask<br />
Boos is not afraid<br />
to wrestle with, wait<br />
out, cajole and get<br />
ankle-deep with anyone.<br />
She finds out who<br />
is on the board of<br />
whatever the organization/building<br />
is,<br />
makes a connection<br />
that will provide support<br />
down the line,<br />
and passionately<br />
makes her case. It’s a<br />
roll of the dice every<br />
single time.<br />
28 May 2008 • www.stage-directions.com
Quantum A.D., Karla Boos<br />
Kristin Slaysman and John Fitzgerald Jay in Quantum’s production of The Collected Works of Billy the Kid.<br />
Andrew Hachey in<br />
The Collected Works<br />
of Billy the Kid<br />
“When I got my meeting at the cemetery, I was thinking,<br />
‘I can’t imagine this going well,’” she confesses, still<br />
stunned. “Quickly, he showed me what he had on his computer<br />
— all these found-spaces productions he had looked<br />
up… and he was completely welcoming, excited about<br />
having our audience of 2,000 in his cemetery.”<br />
Sometimes, permission is not merely altruistic. Say a<br />
warehouse is condemned and about to be turned into<br />
lofts. The developer sees the benefit of buzz that comes<br />
from one of these shows and let’s them in. Also, Boos<br />
makes it easy, and comes with an armful of paper with tiny<br />
print: “We have excellent liability insurance!”<br />
Artistically, she’s “fearless in asking some great artist in<br />
working with us.” Frenchman Dan Jemmett, was asked to<br />
work on 2005’s Dogface. She had seen his work in Paris,<br />
and she got him to come to Pittsburgh to work with<br />
Quantum. For the production of Dogface, they found an<br />
old abandoned steel mill, then brought in an abandoned<br />
tractor-trailer to be part of the set.<br />
“It was a gorgeous steel mill, and it had no heat,” Nelson<br />
tells. “We thought it would be fine but, of course, it turned<br />
out to be one of the coldest winters on record. We had to<br />
install a propane heating system and hang industrial-sized<br />
heaters overhead. Everything was formulated completely<br />
from scratch.”<br />
Nelson adds that, in general, he finds himself using<br />
every single skill he’s learned from grade school on. “I<br />
never thought I would use those geometry skills, but I<br />
have!” he laughs.<br />
That production was invited to the Festival de Otono in<br />
Madrid, Spain, an absolute thrill for Quantum. For that version<br />
of Dogface, they actually cut that trailer in half, shipped<br />
it to Madrid, got it in the theatre and performed the work in<br />
it. “It’s the crème de la crème of touring,” says Boos.<br />
More Madrid<br />
Jemmett was called on for this season’s Collected Works<br />
of Billy the Kid. Based on a book of poems written by Michael<br />
Ondaatie (author of The English Patient) in the 1970s, it<br />
resonated with Jemmett. Because Billy the Kid is an icon, so<br />
shaped by the movies about him, Boos quickly decided an old<br />
movie house would be the best found space for the work.<br />
Hunting, she found “ an amazing place” with a catch…<br />
let’s just say it was showing “blue” movies to a certain<br />
adult audience. But the city had been trying to swish the<br />
undesirable business out of the up-and-coming neighborhood<br />
with an eminent domain broom. The absentee<br />
owner, holed up miles away in Washington, D.C., held out<br />
for 10 years waiting for more money from the city. Finally<br />
he relented. And there was Boos.<br />
“It was holding up the development of this one part of<br />
Pittsburgh, and I say ‘let me make this work,’” she says.<br />
Once inside, she and company couldn’t believe how perfect<br />
the space was — many parts of the theatre hadn’t<br />
been touched since it was built as a nickelodeon in 1917.<br />
Also, there was a treasure trove of props from bygone<br />
eras, many of which were used as props in the play. And<br />
the actors performed in front of an ancient movie screen.<br />
Stephanie Mayer-Staley quickly got to work on the set<br />
design, and C. Todd Brown worked magic with the lights.<br />
Still, even Boos has her limits: She had her team build a<br />
deck with their own seats on top of, er, “other” seats “so no<br />
one had to sit on those!” she laughs.<br />
This production, too, was invited to the Madrid festival.<br />
There they staged it in a former “gentlemen’s club,” which has<br />
been defunct since the last turn of the century.<br />
Meanwhile, back in Pittsburgh, Nelson is confident that<br />
they will never run out of spaces to put on productions.<br />
“There’s always a warehouse, always a garden, always a<br />
cemetery.” Not that Quantum always gets what it wants.<br />
For some time, the theatre company has been eyeing the<br />
iconic Pittsburgh Plate Glass building. It features a top floor<br />
that has a 360-degree view of the city — it’s all glass and<br />
empty. But the rest of the building is very much in use.<br />
“I have a board member of Quantum who is a senior vice<br />
president there who is working with us, but they have a<br />
problem with security — they can’t get their mind around<br />
letting 200 people come into the building after hours. I’m<br />
just not going to succeed at that right now.<br />
“But I’ll come back to it!”<br />
www.stage-directions.com • May 2008 29
Special Section: Artistic Direction<br />
Andrew Collings<br />
The current Neo-Futurist ensemble<br />
New Visions In Artistic Direction<br />
How two bold theatres are trying to reinvent the A.D. wheel<br />
By Bret Love<br />
The history and evolution of theatre can be traced back<br />
more than 2,500 years, yet the role of artistic director<br />
doesn’t seem to have changed much since the days of<br />
Aeschylus.<br />
In general, the A.D. has a range of responsibilities that may<br />
include choosing the theatre’s production slate, hiring creative/production<br />
personnel, directing productions, serving as a<br />
resource for the theatre’s other directors, speaking to the media<br />
and, in many cases, raising funds to support the theatre. In short,<br />
the artistic director is more often than not the primary face, voice<br />
and creative conscience with which the theatre is associated.<br />
Shedding Light on the Neo-Futurists<br />
But many theatrical companies have found that the singular<br />
vision A.D. model doesn’t work for them, instead turning<br />
to more democratic systems that share the balance of power<br />
among several artistic directors, or in some cases, a whole<br />
ensemble. One such organization is Chicago’s Neo-Futurists,<br />
the hip creative collective founded by Greg Allen back in<br />
1988 that’s best known for its 30-plays-in-60-minutes show,<br />
Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind (and for famous<br />
alumnus Stephen Colbert).<br />
“When I created the company,” recalls Allen, “I based it<br />
on my cooperative living experiences at Oberlin. Rather than<br />
setting up a traditional hierarchy, I established a company<br />
run completely on consensus voting, where no one had any<br />
more power than anyone else. I felt this was by far the most<br />
ethical way to run a company and the best way to buck Uncle<br />
Sam’s capitalist system and create art. Everyone would be<br />
that much more invested as equal partners.”<br />
Even now, 20 years later, neither Allen or Artistic Director<br />
Jay Torrence (both of whom receive a part-time salary) have<br />
any greater power over the rest of the ensemble, with all<br />
decisions regarding the theatre’s productions, tours, gigs and<br />
policy made by consensus.<br />
“We have a nurturing, challenging environment where<br />
each writer/director/performer from the ensemble in that<br />
week’s cast gives and receives critical feedback throughout<br />
rehearsals and after every performance,” says Torrence.<br />
“We spend a lot of time talking as a group about the art<br />
we’re making. We experiment, we tweak, we challenge one<br />
another. It keeps the work alive and ever-changing, and our<br />
approach is full of chaos and personal voice, passion and<br />
individual advocacy.”<br />
Of course, as with all experiments, the Neo-Futurists’<br />
democratic trial-and-error hasn’t been without its fair share<br />
of challenges. Allen and Torrence confess that their collective<br />
has confronted obstacles ranging from the facts that reaching<br />
a consensus decision takes forever and endless meetings<br />
require everyone to be respectful and mature in the midst<br />
of highly emotional discussions (a tall order in any group<br />
dynamic) to the simple realities that sometimes creative artists<br />
don’t think with a business mind, and when everyone<br />
has power it’s difficult to know who can steer the ship when<br />
inevitable storms come along.<br />
“The consensus approach theoretically lets everyone be<br />
equal,” admits Allen, “but the actuality is that often the<br />
people who speak loudest and have the most stamina to<br />
keep discussing are the ones who rule the roost. I admit that<br />
I’m often one of those loud speakers and, since I have been<br />
around for 20 years, it takes great effort for me to give equal<br />
weight to the opinion of someone who has been with us for<br />
six months. But I try.”<br />
Still, both Allen and Torrence insist that the payoff is<br />
worth the effort, resulting in distinctive productions like Too<br />
Much Light that truly set the Neo-Futurists apart. “No one<br />
person can dictate something not going into the show,” says<br />
Torrence, which “allows for a broad range of style, voice and<br />
risk-taking in our art. We are allowed to experiment, and we<br />
embrace noble failures on our stage. We keep a high regard<br />
30 May 2008 • www.stage-directions.com
and respect for the quality of our art. We each feel it is our<br />
name and our theatre, and the individual is closely linked to<br />
the identity of the artistic product we make. This ownership<br />
comes with a high price and commitment, but also reaps a<br />
generous personal reward.”<br />
Collaborating In Out of Hand<br />
That personal reward seems to be equally generous for<br />
the ensemble of Atlanta’s Out of Hand Theatre, which aims<br />
to alter the way people experience live theatre via engaging,<br />
interactive productions such as the self-help movement<br />
parody of HELP! and the drug culture critique of MEDS.<br />
Named “[one of] a dozen young American companies you<br />
need to know” by a prominent theatre magazine, this offbeat<br />
ensemble operates with a three-A.D. structure, with founding<br />
members Maia Knispel, Ariel de Man and Adam Fristoe sharing<br />
responsibilities equally.<br />
“Out of Hand is a collaborative ensemble,” says Knispel,<br />
“and we believe that our best art is created collectively. So<br />
we have three artistic directors that all have equal say in the<br />
artistic decisions of the company. We feed off of and build on<br />
each other’s artistic ideas, and rely on each other to further<br />
our own creativity.”<br />
Fristoe explains their creative approach in a more esoteric<br />
fashion, describing Out of Hand’s collaborative ensemble<br />
as a reflection of what people love about theatre in the first<br />
place. “I believe the primary element of theatre that excites<br />
audiences is the way performers offer an alternative way<br />
for people to interact with each other. Actors function as a<br />
cohesive group working towards a common goal. They really<br />
listen to each other, move together and form a true community.<br />
The three of us bring different perspectives on the art<br />
form and when we marry those perspectives, we challenge<br />
ourselves, our company and our audience to grow in ways<br />
that we as individuals wouldn’t imagine.”<br />
They acknowledge similar challenges to those facing the<br />
Neo-Futurists, but insist that the benefits of their approach<br />
far outweigh the drawbacks. “In many ways the challenges<br />
are also the blessings,” Knispel insists. “The three of us have<br />
many different ideas and opinions, and distilling all of that to<br />
only the finest gems is very hard and time consuming… but<br />
so totally worth it! We disagree, we argue, maybe we fight,<br />
but that’s all part of what makes it so awesome. All those<br />
things create the path that leads us to the best product. We<br />
know that we share the same artistic goals, and the struggles<br />
are just signs of our depth of caring about the work, and an<br />
inherent part of achieving the goal.”<br />
The goal for Out of Hand is to continue to create original<br />
theatrical productions that appeal to everyone from nontheatregoers<br />
to traditionalists and theatre scholars, but also<br />
to attract the coveted 18–35 set. “We want to keep making<br />
the kind of crazy stuff we’re making,” says Knispel. “We want<br />
to find better and wilder ways of making it. We want to share<br />
our shows with as many people as we possibly can, touring<br />
nationally and internationally. We want to introduce multitudes<br />
of people to our methods of training and share our<br />
work and knowledge as widely as we possibly can.”<br />
Taking It Home<br />
Asked what advice they would give other theatre companies<br />
contemplating adopting a more democratic A.D.<br />
structure, Allen, Torrence and Knispel all agreed that their<br />
unique approaches should be handled with caution. Allen<br />
recalls a time in the Neo-Futurists’ history where literally<br />
every decision regarding the theatre was decided via<br />
consensus, from casting issues to what concessions were<br />
offered at the theatre, which ground things to a halt on an<br />
organizational level.<br />
“I think our consensus model works great for the art<br />
if you’re creating an ensemble-driven, ever-changing,<br />
on-going production which is all about self-expression,”<br />
Allen admits, “but it is not the best model for the governance<br />
of an organization.”<br />
“Don’t do it because you’re trying to be democratic,”<br />
Knispel warns. “Do it only if it is the best artistic choice for<br />
your company. Be very careful. The key to successful artistic<br />
‘power sharing’— which is a dangerous way to think of it —<br />
is knowing that you have the same artistic goals. You must<br />
love and respect those with whom you share something this<br />
personal and precious.”<br />
Linnea Frye<br />
A cheery moment from Out of Hand’s MEDS A shot from the Out of Hand production Cartoon Neo-Futurist Dean Evans and audience member<br />
www.stage-directions.com • May 2008 31
Special Section: Artistic Direction<br />
Building Opportunities<br />
at the Old Vic<br />
Kevin Spacey relies on training<br />
as he builds for the future.<br />
By Alex S. Morrison<br />
In the massive screening room of the Planet Hollywood<br />
Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, surrounded by journalists,<br />
Sony Pictures employees, celebrities and assorted<br />
hangers-on, the buzz is palpable, built up by the red carpet,<br />
blinding lights and swanky cocktail party leading up to this<br />
world premiere of 21, the latest film from Kevin Spacey’s<br />
Trigger Street Productions. The director and star fill the<br />
stage, but it’s Spacey who commands our attention, goodnaturedly<br />
ribbing his director for talking too much, giving<br />
props to his production partner for finding the author on<br />
whose book the film is based, and basically charming the<br />
pants off everyone in the room.<br />
The setting is a far cry from the confines of London’s Old Vic<br />
Theatre, where Spacey has been found more often than not<br />
since becoming the newly formed company’s artistic director<br />
back in 2003. But the stereotypical Hollywood schmoozing is<br />
a skill that has served him well in the position, where one of<br />
his primary responsibilities seems to be raising money to preserve<br />
a historic theatre that had essentially served as a rental<br />
facility for nearly three decades before his arrival.<br />
“For 30 years, the Old Vic was a booking house,” Spacey<br />
acknowledges in an interview the next morning. “When<br />
the National Theatre left in 1976 under Laurence Olivier’s<br />
artistic direction, it became a booking house. There was<br />
no theatre company, no education program, no outreach<br />
program, so we’ve been trying to build a theatre company<br />
that will survive in a commercial world, even though we<br />
are a charitable organization.”<br />
Backstory<br />
Becoming artistic director of a new theatre company<br />
is an unusual undertaking for a big-time movie star, but<br />
perhaps not too surprising when one considers Spacey’s<br />
background. Born Kevin Spacey Fowler in South Orange,<br />
N.J., the mischievous youth (who was sent off to a military<br />
academy in an attempt to end his shenanigans) eventually<br />
found a home in the theatre at Chatsworth High School in<br />
the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, where his classmates<br />
included Val Kilmer and Mare Winningham. After a<br />
brief stint at Los Angeles Valley College, he was accepted<br />
into the Drama program at Juilliard, which only served to<br />
stoke the fires of his lifelong love of acting.<br />
“There were probably 5,000 actors and actresses who<br />
applied for the school and only 28 of us who were chosen<br />
for a class,” he recalls, “so you start off feeling like one of the<br />
thoroughbreds. It was life changing because it gives you a<br />
tremendous amount of confidence, but I think what makes<br />
great training great is that it keeps happening. There are a<br />
lot of pieces of information that don’t have any value until<br />
you put them into a personal context. The lesson isn’t necessarily<br />
learned while you’re in school, but when you apply it<br />
later. So in many ways I’m still learning those lessons.”<br />
Though today Spacey credits his Juilliard schooling with<br />
teaching him the technical facility for theatrical performance<br />
— “the ability to get up on stage every single night, eight performances<br />
a week, 12–14 weeks in a row, never lose my voice,<br />
always be alive and ready to take it somewhere else, and be<br />
there for your acting partners” — he left the school after two<br />
years of training, hungry for real world experience.<br />
Signing on with the New York Shakespeare Festival, he<br />
got his first professional credit as a messenger in their 1982<br />
production of Henry VI, and within a year was making his<br />
Broadway debut in a production of Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts. By<br />
1986, he was working with his idol and future mentor, Jack<br />
32 May 2008 • www.stage-directions.com
Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum in the Old Vic’s production of David Mamet’s Speed-the-Plow<br />
Lemmon, on a production of Eugene<br />
O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night,<br />
and in 1991 he won a Tony Award for<br />
his performance as Uncle Louie in Neil<br />
Simon’s Lost In Yonkers.<br />
Taking On Hollywood<br />
But in Hollywood, where he was considered<br />
more of a character than a leading<br />
man, Spacey’s career took off much<br />
more slowly. Though he established a<br />
knack for playing gleefully sinister characters<br />
such as a beady-eyed villain in the<br />
TV series Wiseguy, a malevolent office<br />
manager in Glengarry Glen Ross and<br />
a sadistic film executive in Swimming<br />
with Sharks, it wasn’t until 1995 that<br />
mainstream audiences began to take<br />
notice of his talents. With back-to-back<br />
turns as the subtly creepy Verbal Kint in<br />
Bryan Singer’s The Usual Suspects and as<br />
a psychotic serial killer in David Fincher’s<br />
Se7en, Spacey continued to explore his<br />
dark side to riveting effect, earning his<br />
first Academy Award (Best Supporting<br />
Actor for Suspects) in the process.<br />
But by the time he won his second<br />
Oscar for American Beauty in 2000, the<br />
actor had already begun to question<br />
the course of his career, realizing he<br />
wanted to achieve something more fulfilling<br />
than merely remaining atop the<br />
Hollywood heap.<br />
“My priorities changed when I made<br />
the decision that I wanted to start this<br />
theatre company,” he recalls. “Theatre<br />
had always been my primary allegiance,<br />
and while I spent 10 years being driven<br />
by a personal ambition to have a film<br />
career, I got to a point where that was<br />
no longer of interest to me. I love movies<br />
and have been very grateful to them,<br />
because without them I couldn’t be in<br />
the position I’m in. But I’m now doing<br />
exactly what I want to be doing, and<br />
don’t feel like I’m trapped in the cog of<br />
the wheel anymore.”<br />
Funding the Future<br />
Asked how his experience at the Old<br />
Vic has reshaped him as an actor, Spacey<br />
says that shows such as Eugene O’Neill’s<br />
A Moon For The Misbegotten and this<br />
year’s run of David Mamet’s Speed-the-<br />
Plow have taught him how to create a<br />
story arc over the course of two hours.<br />
www.stage-directions.com • May 2008 33
Special Section: Artistic Direction<br />
Another moment from Speed-the-Plow<br />
”If you haven't had that theatre experience,” he insists,<br />
“it's much harder in a film to figure out how to create an arc<br />
in a very crazy shooting schedule. The frustration in movies<br />
is you never get to play the part straight through. But in the<br />
theatre you learn in front of an audience, because they're<br />
going to tell you very quickly whether you're holding their<br />
attention or not, and whether they're following the story or<br />
not. I’ve always believed that the work I've done in the theatre<br />
has had a huge effect on the work I've done in film.”<br />
It’s also had a huge effect on the amount of time Spacey<br />
can devote to said work. Since taking the A.D. job at the Old<br />
Vic in 2003, the 49-year-old actor has averaged just one film<br />
per year, most of them either Trigger Street Productions<br />
(such as 2004’s Beyond The Sea, which he also directed) or<br />
reunions with old friends (such as Bryan Singer’s Superman<br />
Returns). In fact, shortly after our interview, Spacey hopped<br />
on a plane back to London for another sold-out performance<br />
of Speed-the-Plow, leaving Las Vegas exactly 24 hours after<br />
his arrival. It’s a punishing schedule, but one about which<br />
Spacey remains passionate.<br />
“I hope to be able to leave the theatre company in a position<br />
where I’ve raised enough money for them that whoever<br />
takes over my role as artistic director won’t have to spend as<br />
much time fundraising as I’ve had to,” he say optimistically.<br />
“When you have a 1,000-seat theatre and no subsidy from<br />
the government, it takes a lot to raise that money. So I hope<br />
to be able to leave an endowment to cover the running<br />
costs of the company, to convince some of the government<br />
agencies that our outreach work deserves to be subsidized,<br />
and to raise the money to renovate the building to 21st century<br />
standards, which is a £30 million campaign. Those are<br />
my broader goals over the next five or so years.”<br />
Sure, it sounds like a Herculean task, but it’s a challenge<br />
Spacey seems to relish. “I’m much happier now,” he says<br />
with a charismatic grin, “and I feel that the work I’m doing<br />
there is the most important work I’ve ever done.”<br />
34 May 2008 • www.stage-directions.com
Special Section: Artistic Direction<br />
Artistic Directors Creating More Than Shows<br />
Two found the<br />
best path to an<br />
artistic director<br />
position was to<br />
start their own<br />
theatre.<br />
A moment from the production of Brother Wolf by the Triad <strong>Stage</strong><br />
By Kevin M. Mitchell<br />
Theatres are the birthplace of dreams. Audience members<br />
dream of acting, stage techs imagine themselves as lighting<br />
designers, actors want to direct. But it seems that most<br />
around the boards have at one time talked, plotted, wished and<br />
fantasized about having his or her own regional theatre.<br />
Two who dared to have forged their own career path to<br />
become artistic director of thriving theatres are Preston Lane<br />
and Michael Hamilton. Their impressive stories are certainly<br />
not common, but it is inspiring to know that running your<br />
own theatre is possible.<br />
Triad <strong>Stage</strong><br />
Greensboro, N.C.<br />
“We look back on it and we can’t believe it happened,”<br />
says Preston Lane, who is on his seventh season as artistic<br />
director, cofounder and director of Triad <strong>Stage</strong>. Not bad for a<br />
kid from the mountains.<br />
“I grew up in the mountains of North Carolina,” Lane tells.<br />
“It was in a small town called Boone, home to the Appalachian<br />
State University. I remember seeing Hedda Gabler when I was<br />
10, and it convinced me I wanted to be in the theatre.”<br />
In a prelude of what would come, in high school he launched<br />
a theatre program of sorts. The school would only occasionally<br />
do musicals, and Lane, who admits he’s not much of a singer,<br />
aspired to something else. “My friends and I conned some teachers<br />
into directing a dramatic production we wanted to do.”<br />
After that, he went to China for a year to “convince myself<br />
I didn’t want to be in theatre. Apparently that didn’t work out<br />
too well because I’m still here.” He received a BFA at North<br />
Carolina School of the Arts, focusing on acting. Then it was off to<br />
New York City. There he did scene presentations to agents, but<br />
wasn’t happy with how they were trying to pigeonhole him.<br />
“All the agents told me all I’d play was nerds, and in fact, I<br />
was the ‘nerd’ in the Super Mario Brothers movie,” he laughs. He<br />
decided he wanted to be a director so he could “be in charge<br />
and control my career.” One<br />
of his big breaks was working<br />
as the assistant of noted director<br />
Gerald Freedman; then it<br />
was onto Yale where he got<br />
his MFA in directing. It was at<br />
Yale when he realized what he<br />
wanted most was to have a<br />
long-term relationship with a<br />
particular audience, he says.<br />
There he also met future<br />
business partner Rich<br />
Whittington. They worked Preston Lane<br />
together in Summer Theatre<br />
and their conversations increasingly turned to the idea of<br />
starting their own theatre. They did a nationwide search of cities<br />
and Greensboro won out. The two just showed up one day<br />
in 1997 and said, “we want to start a theatre.”<br />
Of course, it wasn’t quite that easy — it took a couple of<br />
years for them to develop the ties to the community necessary.<br />
Meanwhile, Lane left for Dallas for a while to be associate<br />
artistic director at the Dallas Theatre Center under Richard<br />
Hamburger (“I was ‘Hamburger Helper,’” he jokes). Fundraising<br />
took hold and they raised $5.5 million, bought an old abandoned<br />
department store building downtown, converted it<br />
into a theatre and opened in 2001.<br />
However, no one could have been prepared for the events<br />
of September 11, 2001. The plays long chosen for their first<br />
season leaned on heavier, darker material. “The stakes were<br />
high because we hadn’t even done a show, and we were<br />
defining ourselves by our selection.” After the attacks, people<br />
weren’t in the mood to go out, let alone be challenged in<br />
the theatre. Fundraising dried up. Yet they made it through<br />
somehow and, interestingly, did not change how or the type<br />
of material they were drawn to.<br />
www.stage-directions.com • May 2008 35
Special Section: Artistic Direction<br />
“We had people after that first season<br />
say, ‘this isn’t exactly what we thought<br />
this would be,’ and we spent our first two<br />
or three seasons really finding who our<br />
core audience was going to be.”<br />
Today, they found that audience.<br />
Their often provocative work has<br />
garnered 3,000 subscribers and their<br />
shows average 82% capacity. Most<br />
recently, they were able to complete<br />
work on the building they are<br />
in to include offices and a smaller<br />
cabaret theatre.<br />
“A lot of theatres, when they see<br />
the audience isn’t showing, try to find<br />
the lowest common denominator of<br />
material to bring people in. Does this<br />
mean every one of our shows is dark<br />
and depressing? No.” Also, they appeal<br />
to their community by building their<br />
seasons around material written largely<br />
by southern writers.<br />
“Every city in America deserves great<br />
theatre, and those in regional theatre<br />
shouldn’t pretend they are on Broadway.<br />
This is a theatre that is about community<br />
and region.”<br />
Lane says that to be a successful artistic<br />
director, you have to first be a good<br />
theatre artist. “Whether you’re an actor, a<br />
designer or director, you need to understand<br />
that theatre is not just an art, but<br />
also a business.” Fundraising, budgeting<br />
and making difficult choices, making sure<br />
tickets are sold, are all as much a part of<br />
the job as the ability to pick a play and<br />
put on a show.<br />
Apparently, one of his tasks includes<br />
the proverbial pinching: “No matter what<br />
kind of day I’m having or what problems<br />
have come up, I remind myself that this is<br />
a dream job. I’m very lucky.”<br />
<strong>Stage</strong>s<br />
St. Louis<br />
Michael Hamilton grew up in<br />
Kirkwood, Mo., a suburb of St. Louis.<br />
Coincidently, in the exact reverse of<br />
Lane’s upbringing, his drama teacher in<br />
high school was not interested in musicals.<br />
But Hamilton wouldn’t let that<br />
technicality stand in his way. “I got a<br />
bunch of friends together and talked<br />
the principal into letting us do a spring<br />
musical,” he tells. “It was Celebration!”<br />
Hamilton directed, of course.<br />
He attended Southwest Missouri<br />
State School in Springfield on a<br />
scholarship. There he worked alongside<br />
the likes of John Goodman and<br />
Kathleen Turner. Still, he, too, tried to<br />
talk himself out of pursuing theatre as<br />
a career and dropped out of college<br />
and spent a year at the psychiatric<br />
ward of a hospital. (He demurs to say<br />
if that experience helped prepare him<br />
for dealing with “theatre folk,” but<br />
surely it didn’t hurt…)<br />
He then was off to New York where<br />
his focus shifted. “I got a couple of summer<br />
stock jobs as a choreographer, and<br />
one took me to a theatre in upstate<br />
New York where I met Jack Lane [no<br />
relation to Preston — ed.],” he tells. “Like<br />
many young artists, we would have<br />
post-mortems about shows, discussing<br />
what we would have done differently…<br />
it was arrogance, really! We thought we<br />
could do it better!” he laughs.<br />
Their conversations quickly lead to<br />
the idea of starting their own theatre<br />
because “both of us wanted to control<br />
our careers.” Hamilton would be the<br />
36 May 2008 • www.stage-directions.com
Zachary Halley, Keith Tyrone, Nicholas Kohn, Michael Halling, Matthew Skrincosky and Marc Kessler in the <strong>Stage</strong>s St. Louis 2007<br />
production of The Full Monty<br />
artistic director and Lane would be executive<br />
producer. And for Hamilton, the location was<br />
easy: his hometown of St. Louis. With a $50,000<br />
family loan, and two years of gestation, <strong>Stage</strong>s<br />
would have its inaugural season in 1987.<br />
Hamilton says the success of the theatre<br />
would not be possible without Lane, who while<br />
he started his theatre career as an actor, “his<br />
whole life has pointed toward him becoming a<br />
producer. I’m a creature of dreams — Jack is a<br />
creature of reality!” he laughs. In the beginning,<br />
Lane was successful at bringing in the business<br />
community and getting local support; today, he Michael Hamilton<br />
continues to husband the growth of the organization<br />
to the point that they are in the midst of an ambitious $31 million capital<br />
campaign to create a new home for the theatre and their educational programs.<br />
Currently, <strong>Stage</strong>s has 45,000 patrons, 9,400 subscribers and 57 in its acting<br />
company. A budget of $3.2 million annually allows for some of the best talent and<br />
shows possible.<br />
“We talk about providing our ‘E Ticket’ — Entertain, Enlighten and Excite,”<br />
Hamilton says. “When I put together a season, I look to enlighten our audience<br />
and uplift the human spirit.” He adds that it’s important for an artistic director of<br />
a regional theatre to remember that it’s not about him or her. For example, while<br />
he loves Spring Awakening, it’s not the kind of show that would do well at <strong>Stage</strong>s.<br />
“You can’t produce things in a vacuum. The great objective is to create theatre that<br />
someone else is going to love. You need to pay attention to your audience — not<br />
pander, but foster their interest so you can get them to buy in.”<br />
His years of experience enable him to be good at picking shows. He’s careful to<br />
steer clear from shows, while popular, might be dated and a product of their time:<br />
“I don’t think Oklahoma can be created today, and I don’t think Rent could have<br />
been created 40 years ago. The most important thing an artistic director can do is<br />
to put together the right season, and that involves being a good dramaturge and<br />
understanding the product and the community.”<br />
Hamilton says that when people ask how one gets to be artistic director of your<br />
own theatre, he tells them to get “a Jack Lane. I don’t mean to sound simplistic, but<br />
to create something like <strong>Stage</strong>s you need someone who can quickly gain the support<br />
of the community, be proactive and go around to all the nearby restaurants<br />
and shops and tell them how they will benefit from a theatre like this and then<br />
enlist their support.”<br />
That aside, his advice to those wanting to be artistic directors is “be a passionate<br />
student of theatre. See as much theatre as you can. Go outside your comfort zone<br />
and see theatre you aren’t necessarily excited about at first. And be a student of<br />
the human condition — read the newspapers, the periodicals, know what is happening<br />
in the world and try to understand how it can impact your art…<br />
“And make sure you can’t do something else.”<br />
www.stage-directions.com • May 2008 37
Show Biz<br />
By Tim Cusack<br />
Plays Without the Development Fund<br />
The NEA’s new grant has an $80,000 entrance fee — where does that leave you?<br />
<br />
Recently, the NEA announced the<br />
New Play Development Program.<br />
Administered by Arena <strong>Stage</strong> in<br />
Washington D.C., companies awarded<br />
this grant would be allocated either<br />
$10,000 to support new play development<br />
(with an additional $10,000 going<br />
directly to the playwright) or $80,000 to<br />
help underwrite the costs of a new play’s<br />
world premiere.<br />
But, in order to be eligible to receive<br />
the money, your organization must be<br />
able to match it dollar for dollar. That’s<br />
right — to collect your 80 grand, you’ve<br />
got to line up donors with some pretty<br />
deep pockets who are ready to reach<br />
into them. So, unless you’re a LORT A<br />
theatre (maybe LORT B), you’ve got about<br />
as much a chance of landing this grant as I<br />
do of being cast as the next Superman.<br />
So where does that leave us little<br />
guys? Where we’ve always been —<br />
making new work happen, without<br />
tens of thousands of dollars in government<br />
funding. Granted, for folks producing<br />
under a code, whether on the<br />
East or West Coast, not having to pay<br />
the actors or make the monthly mortgage<br />
on a big, expensive space makes<br />
it much easier to take a risk on a young,<br />
unproven playwright. But I would argue<br />
there’s another factor in play — which is<br />
that many smaller companies (the ones<br />
that produce the majority of new plays)<br />
have built up long-standing relationships<br />
with the playwrights whose work<br />
they are developing or are themselves<br />
being run by playwrights.<br />
OBIE-winning Director John Clancy<br />
would certainly agree. One of the founders<br />
of the NY International Fringe Festival,<br />
Clancy is a huge advocate for using the<br />
multinational network of fringe festivals as<br />
a developmental tool for new work. Every<br />
year for well over a decade he brought<br />
work to the Edinburgh Festival, and his<br />
persistence has paid off: This past year,<br />
he received the first annual Edinburgh<br />
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International Festival Award, which comes<br />
with a £10,000 commissioning prize and is<br />
bestowed on a fringe company of exceptional<br />
artistic quality. For Clancy, this is the<br />
perfect illustration of his belief that the<br />
best way to foster the development of new<br />
theatrical work is to “give the money to the<br />
voices.” Clancy used part of his grant to pay<br />
himself for the month he spent finishing<br />
his new play. He applied another chunk of<br />
it to underwrite the costs for a two-week<br />
workshop that he directed, paying his cast<br />
a modest fee, which culminated in a public<br />
reading of his play. The process proved<br />
invaluable —“I got two major rewrites out<br />
of it” — but perhaps more important, it<br />
was his process, not one imposed by an<br />
institution. As Clancy puts it, “If you plant<br />
my crop in the soil at the Magic Theatre, it<br />
will taste like the Magic. But if you give me<br />
the money directly, I can water the field<br />
myself. And my play will taste like itself.”<br />
Clancy would like to see younger organizations<br />
given the opportunity to partner<br />
with larger institutions as “shadow<br />
companies,” taking advantage of underutilized<br />
space, such as theatre lobbies, to<br />
develop and rehearse new work during<br />
off hours.<br />
Blue Coyote Theatre is moving in that<br />
direction. Three years ago, they entered<br />
into an agreement with Access Theatre<br />
in Tribeca to take over that space’s dayto-day<br />
management. In exchange they<br />
have the right to book themselves into<br />
any performance period on the calendar<br />
at a reduced rate. According to Stephen<br />
Speights, one of their four founding<br />
directors, this “access” to space has proven<br />
invaluable in enabling them to nurture<br />
work they feel passionately about.<br />
They also have used funding creatively,<br />
taking a portion of the grant they<br />
received for marketing and applying it to<br />
publicizing their reading series to bring<br />
in more members of the surrounding<br />
community, allowing the playwright to<br />
gauge their work in front of regular<br />
theatergoers. Since quite a few of their<br />
plays have shown up in the Plays and<br />
Playwrights anthologies over the years,<br />
their creative combination of savvy space<br />
acquisition and out-of-the-box grant allocation<br />
seems to be working as one model<br />
for getting new work on its feet.<br />
38 April 2008 • www.stage-directions.com
TD Talk<br />
By David McGinnis<br />
Keeping the Faith<br />
It’s something larger that keeps the blades turning and the drills pressing.<br />
By the time this reaches you undaunted masters known as<br />
our readers, the show in question will have closed, and the<br />
remnants of the intensive labor put forth from my crew will<br />
have vanished into storage between the body of Jimmy Hoffa and<br />
the Arc of the Covenant. That said, stories have passed that bear<br />
repeating, and such a scribe as myself would be remiss to exclude<br />
you from the adventure.<br />
When the production on which I am currently working was<br />
named, I knew that space would come at a premium. The required<br />
set would more than double both our material needs and expected<br />
man-hours. Storage has already run thin, and some small portions<br />
of this new world we’re creating have yet to be completely<br />
assembled. If I wrote in this mischievously honest memoir that my<br />
nerves suffered, I would sue myself for libel, as such a statement<br />
would not give due weight to my current scenario.<br />
Having now begun the process, nights have passed that, as I<br />
stride the threshold of my forgotten home at hours leaning toward<br />
morning, I pass the sympathetic yet undeniably dismayed eyes of<br />
a woman who has seen fit to endure my absence. She did not sign<br />
any contract at any time that binds her to this life, and there are<br />
days — rather nights — when I could not hold a grudge against her<br />
if I found her as absent in the morning as I have been at night.<br />
There are days when the sight of bare lumber stacked along a<br />
wall and the sounds of circular saws remind<br />
me that we have but begun this process. In<br />
these moments, I sweat like a man dodging<br />
fire because I have seen before the events that<br />
precede failure, though time is still with us.<br />
And my wife has yet to leave me.<br />
It is faith that carries my wife, my crew<br />
and myself through such times. Truth be<br />
known, it is so for each and every one of us.<br />
As I survey the seeming wreckage of a set<br />
yet to take its final shape, I cannot escape<br />
the fear that it will all crumble, but I cannot<br />
shake the faith that it will all take shape. I<br />
cannot shake the fear that I’ll return to an<br />
empty home, but I stand on the faith that<br />
I will not.<br />
My wife entreats me to leave work as<br />
soon as possible, and she fears that I’ll be<br />
late yet again. However, she keeps the<br />
faith that I’ll at least return, and I repay that<br />
faith every night.<br />
My crew stand beside me, awed by the<br />
task before us, but they keep their faith<br />
that it will stand one day. Though I cannot<br />
be certain, I suspect a certain faith in me. If<br />
this is so, then it is only right that I return<br />
with faith in them.<br />
We do not necessarily dwell in the world<br />
of abstractions that our colleagues enjoy,<br />
though most, if not all, of us are capable of<br />
it. In our world, that which we might smell,<br />
taste, touch, hear and see looms large over<br />
that which it holds up — namely, the vision that birthed it.<br />
Such a world does not resemble a place of faith. Such a<br />
world dictates its rules through numbers, measurements,<br />
tools. Are these the implements of faith?<br />
Yes, my friends. A drill relies on our hand, and our hand<br />
moves only when commanded by our mind, and that is where<br />
our faith lives. Faith in ourselves, faith in our craft, faith in both<br />
the people with whom we have the honor of working and<br />
for whom we have the honor of doing our work. If we do not<br />
believe in what we do, then it will never be done.<br />
In light of that revelation, I know that every inch of these<br />
drawings spread before me will one day stand, and I know that<br />
I will be able to walk on it, touch it and let anyone know that,<br />
“Yes, I helped the finest crew you’ll never know build it.”<br />
Now, having shaved away that burdensome doubt, and<br />
having renewed my faith that all of us will prevail, the time has<br />
come to return to my sanctum — my shop. By the time you<br />
read this, the show will have opened, run, closed and struck.<br />
But you may keep the faith that it did.<br />
And somewhere in Florida, a woman will have finally<br />
stopped waiting through the night, for her vagabond will have<br />
come home.<br />
Keep the faith.<br />
www.stage-directions.com • May 2008 39
Off the Shelf<br />
By Stephen Peithman<br />
One Voice<br />
Monologues and other resources for<br />
portraying character and situation<br />
The market for monologue collections seems insatiable.<br />
Actors who use these to audition want something that<br />
will set them apart from their competition, and teachers<br />
often use monologues to help students develop character<br />
and project a point of view in a very short time. They also are<br />
a favorite with agents, directors and casting directors, offering<br />
the opportunity to size up an actor’s ability in a minute or<br />
so. Scenes for two actors take this a step farther — not only<br />
establishing character and situation, but forcing each person<br />
to make those choices mesh with those of the other actor.<br />
In 101 Original One-Minute Monologues for Women<br />
Ages 18-25, Author Kristen Dabrowski provides not only the<br />
title’s promised number of short pieces for women (dramatic,<br />
comic and seriocomic), but a variety of situations and personality<br />
types that particularly suit the 18-25 age group. She<br />
also includes some good advice on how to choose the right<br />
monologue. [$11.95, Smith and Kraus]<br />
Also gender-specific are The Best Men’s <strong>Stage</strong><br />
Monologues of 2007, and The Best Women’s <strong>Stage</strong><br />
Monologues of 2007, both edited by Lawrence Harbison.<br />
Some of the playwrights represented are familiar (Theresa<br />
Rebeck, A.R. Gurney, Terrence McNally), but much of the<br />
material is from new and emerging authors — once again<br />
giving the performer access to well crafted, but not overexposed<br />
works. [$11.95 each, from Smith and Kraus]<br />
161 One-Minute Monologues from Literature is an<br />
eclectic anthology derived from novels, short stories, memoirs,<br />
narrative poetry and essays, indexed by gender, age,<br />
tone, voice and author. Editors John Capecci and Irene<br />
Ziegler Aston include both classic and recent material, and<br />
authors as varied as Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel<br />
Hawthorne, H.G. Wells, William Goldman, Fannie Hurst and<br />
Rita Mae Brown. This is an exceptional collection of unusual<br />
material for audition and study purposes. [$19.95, Smith and<br />
Kraus].<br />
A compact volume with a very long title is The Ultimate<br />
Audition Book for Teens Volume XII: 111 One-Minute<br />
Monologues — Just Comedy! by Kristen Dabrowski. It’s<br />
designed for auditions, class or practice, focusing exclusively<br />
on the comic — from smiles to outright belly laughs. Young<br />
people should enjoy working with this collection. [$11.95,<br />
Smith and Kraus]<br />
Ready for My Close-Up!: Great Movie Speeches, edited by<br />
Denny Martin Flinn, contains 200 speeches from some of the<br />
best — and a few of the worst — films ever made. Although<br />
it wasn’t designed for audition or study purposes, it nonetheless<br />
provides material for actors looking for something a bit<br />
different — from Groucho Marx’s “I shot an elephant in my<br />
pajamas” to Julia Roberts’ “What it takes to be a movie star.”<br />
[$19.95, Limelight Editions]<br />
The Best <strong>Stage</strong> Scenes of 2007 offers excerpts from recent<br />
plays for student actors to learn how to share the spotlight<br />
with another actor. There’s no time limit for any of the scenes<br />
in this fine collection — some are short, others relatively<br />
long. Characters range in age from teenagers to seniors,<br />
and the tone varies from comic to dramatic. Again, many of<br />
the authors represented may be familiar (Ken Ludwig, Alan<br />
Ball, A.R. Gurney, Daisy Foote), while others are relatively<br />
unknown. The collection includes scenes for one man and<br />
one woman, for two women, and for two men. [$14.95, Smith<br />
and Kraus]<br />
Many songs by Stephen Sondheim are essentially monologues<br />
set to music, and now performers can practice their art<br />
with professional accompaniment with <strong>Stage</strong> Stars Records’<br />
sing-along CD release of Sweeney Todd. The two-disc set<br />
includes 16 background tracks and guide vocals, plus 16<br />
tracks with accompaniment alone. All selections are in their<br />
original keys and tempos. Price is $33.49, and <strong>Stage</strong> Stars<br />
offers similar discs for Avenue Q, Cats, The Fantasticks, Grease,<br />
Into the Woods, Les Miserables, The Sound of Music and Wicked,<br />
among many others [stage-stars.com].<br />
And if you’d like to compare your Sweeney performance<br />
with those in the original Broadway production, check out<br />
the remastered classic 1982 video recording with Angela<br />
Lansbury and George Hearn, in Dolby Surround 5.1, from<br />
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40 May 2008 • www.stage-directions.com
The Play’s the Thing<br />
By Stephen Peithman<br />
Culture Clashes<br />
Five plays explore<br />
how basic differences<br />
can lead to conflict.<br />
This month’s roundup of recently published plays centers<br />
on five that explore conflict within and between<br />
cultures.<br />
George Packer’s Betrayed, which centers on the plight<br />
of Iraqis who worked for the U.S. as translators in Baghdad,<br />
began as an article in The New Yorker. Surprisingly, it makes a<br />
gripping play, detailing how these workers become trapped<br />
between the hostility of fellow Iraqis who consider them<br />
traitors and the Americans unwilling to reward their service<br />
by granting them asylum in our country. The result is not so<br />
much an anti-Iraq war piece as it is a drama about the sort of<br />
human dramas that are the inevitable by-product of any war.<br />
Although the situation and historical facts makes a happy<br />
ending impossible, Packer alleviates the tension with a good<br />
deal of humor, and the bittersweet ending is not without<br />
hope. Cast includes 15 males, five females; some parts can<br />
be doubled. [Faber & Faber Books; includes licensing information]<br />
The Overwhelming, by J.T. Rogers, is the story of<br />
an American family, newly arrived in Rwanda in early<br />
1994, who become embroiled in politically driven, lifethreatening<br />
situations with no clue of how to deal with<br />
them. The action develops in a series of short, sharply<br />
drawn scenes that bring the characters to life while<br />
exploring the tensions leading up to the tribal conflict<br />
that eventually killed 800,000 Rwandans. Rogers brings<br />
his point home to us by using as his central characters a<br />
visiting American family who are witnesses to the horrific<br />
events. In doing so, he helps us understand not only the<br />
Rwandan genocide, but what led to it and what it tells us<br />
about ourselves. Eight males, three females; some parts<br />
can be doubled. [Faber & Faber Books; includes licensing<br />
information]<br />
On a much lighter note, Jim Knable’s Spain chronicles<br />
a woman’s journey of self-discovery after an acrimonious<br />
divorce. Dreaming of a new life in Spain, she conjures up<br />
a dream lover — a sexy Spanish conquistador — and the<br />
two of them begin a fantastical love affair as she discovers<br />
more about herself than she might ever have dreamed.<br />
It’s a funny play, although the second act isn’t as good as<br />
the first. Still, the Conquistador and the Ancient (a sort of<br />
Mayan figure) are intriguing comic characters. The New<br />
York critics weren’t kind to Spain, but in the hands of a<br />
strong cast and director, Knable’s dramatic comedy still<br />
has much to offer. Three females, two males. [Broadway<br />
Play Publishing]<br />
In Huck & Holden, by Rajiv Joseph, a college student<br />
from India named Navin comes to the U.S. to study engineering,<br />
but ends up getting a first-hand look at some<br />
other things America has to offer — like sex, porn and<br />
J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. Navin has been<br />
assigned to write a paper on two American literary rebels,<br />
Holden Caulfield and Huckleberry Finn, and develops<br />
an immediate fascination with Salinger’s anti-hero, who<br />
reminds him of Singh, a classmate of his back in Calcutta.<br />
Immediately, Navin’s vision of a Singh/Holden combo<br />
becomes an imaginary advisor who turns up whenever<br />
he needs help in dealing with the conflict between what<br />
is expected of him by his family and his relationship<br />
with an attractive and outspoken African American student<br />
named Michelle. The author’s writing is smart and<br />
sophisticated in its ability to see past stereotypes and<br />
reveal his characters’ essential humanity in this outstanding<br />
new play. Three males, two females. [Samuel French]<br />
A cultural conflict of a very different sort is at the center<br />
of Theresa Rebeck’s Abstract Expression, published in<br />
a new edition by Samuel French. After a scathing review<br />
15 years ago, a once-celebrated painter has faded into<br />
obscurity, living with his daughter in poverty, creating<br />
works that he shows only to her. Then a chance encounter<br />
promises — or threatens — to relaunch his career.<br />
With biting humor and considerable compassion, Rebeck<br />
compares the gritty reality of people living from day to<br />
day with the capriciousness of the art world, where fame<br />
can be a matter of who you know and reputations can be<br />
bought and sold. Six males, three females.<br />
www.stage-directions.com • May 2008 41
Feature<br />
By Erik Viker<br />
Backdrop Basics<br />
Leah Yetter<br />
Backdrops Fantastic’s Tropical Beach Sunset TB004 used for South Pacific at the Theatre Macon in Macon, Ga.<br />
Large-scale painted backdrops are a mainstay of professional<br />
theatre production, and veteran scenic<br />
designers and stage technicians effortlessly select,<br />
install and operate them almost daily. Even with talented<br />
scenic artists on staff, the space needed to sew and paint<br />
scenic backdrops often makes it impossible for small<br />
theatre companies to create their own panoramic backdrops.<br />
With some planning and simple training, community<br />
theatres, academic programs and small professional<br />
companies can also take advantage of the versatility and<br />
flexibility of painted backdrops. If your budget allows, you<br />
can use several backdrops for impressive yet quick scene<br />
changes augmented by easily moveable set pieces and<br />
complementary lighting effects.<br />
A Practical Solution<br />
If your scenic design requirements are flexible and a specific<br />
artistic approach isn’t necessary, backdrop rental may<br />
be a practical solution for your production design needs.<br />
Backdrop rental companies (such as those listed in the directory<br />
pages that follow) maintain extensive online catalogs,<br />
including thumbnail photos of their available products and<br />
rental rates and policies. Online backdrop rental companies<br />
offer backdrop packages tailored to specific popular plays<br />
and Broadway-style musicals, or customers may browse galleries<br />
arranged by design theme. Because these companies<br />
do brisk business year round, you should inquire about<br />
availability before assuming your preferred design is in<br />
stock when you need it. Depending on the design selected,<br />
backdrop rentals can range from $100 to $500 per week,<br />
plus shipping costs. Remember, fabric is surprisingly heavy<br />
and a 50-pound package can be expensive to ship both<br />
ways, so budget your production accordingly if you plan<br />
to rent backdrops. Of course, it is important to make sure<br />
costuming and set pieces are artistically comparable to the<br />
backdrops selected, so your scenic and costume designers<br />
should be involved in the decision-making process from the<br />
beginning. For example, a Victorian environment majestically<br />
displayed across the entire stage may not be what your<br />
designers have in mind as the setting for a “casual contemporary”<br />
production design.<br />
The size of the soft goods you select must be carefully considered.<br />
Pre-painted rental backdrops may range in height<br />
between only 10 feet tall to over 30 feet tall, and widths can<br />
exceed 50 feet in some cases. Consider the sightlines of your<br />
venue to ensure the backdrop you choose will meet your<br />
needs, and consider the side masking necessary to adequately<br />
frame the drop visually. Do not underestimate the effect of<br />
distance on perceived size of your scenery: What may seem<br />
like a huge painted surface from the stage apron may look<br />
like a postage stamp to the patrons in the 15th row. If your<br />
design requires one or more backdrops to fly out of sight, you<br />
42 May 2008 • www.stage-directions.com
Feature<br />
Grosh backdrop ES1313 at the Glasgow Summer Theater’s production of Children of Eden<br />
must measure the travel distance of each rigging lineset to<br />
be certain the bottom of the drops can be flown out entirely.<br />
You can determine this distance by loosely fastening the end<br />
of a flexible tape measure to the batten with spike tape and<br />
slowly flying it out to maximum height. Also consider diagonal<br />
sight lines from the first few rows to the bottom of the<br />
flown scenery. If a glimpse of the very bottom of your painted<br />
backdrop from the first few rows is unacceptable, you may<br />
need to add black masking downstage of the backdrop.<br />
Installation and Operation<br />
If your staff does not include an<br />
experienced rigging technician, you<br />
should first ensure your personnel are<br />
properly trained in the installation and<br />
operation of counterweight rigging<br />
equipment before flying any scenery.<br />
Pre-painted backdrops, like most<br />
conventional theatre curtains, usually<br />
include sturdy jute webbing across<br />
the top hem, with metal grommets<br />
and ties installed at 12-inch intervals.<br />
Installation simply consists of centering<br />
the backdrop on a pipe batten<br />
and fastening each tie to the pipe<br />
with shoelace-style knots. For the best visual effect, you<br />
may need to slide sections of threaded one-inch steel or<br />
aluminum pipe (called “bottom pipe”) into a pre-sewn<br />
tube at the bottom hem, thereby stretching the fabric<br />
slightly and minimizing wrinkles. This bottom pipe adds<br />
to the overall weight of the backdrop assembly and must<br />
be considered when flying the backdrop. If your theatre<br />
lacks working linesets, you may still use a painted backdrop,<br />
but you may need to tie ropes or “pick-up lines”
from an architecturally sound location<br />
above the stage, such as a grid or gallery<br />
railing, to support the steel pipe to<br />
which the backdrop will be tied. This<br />
approach is available when the backdrop<br />
does not have to be flown out of<br />
sight. The backdrop should be tied to<br />
Schedule 40 steel pipes, with pick-up<br />
lines leading from the pipe batten to<br />
the grid or other architecture, placed<br />
every 10 feet to avoid flexing the pipe<br />
under load. Your technicians must be<br />
experienced with several types of knots<br />
to ensure the scenery does not place<br />
anyone at risk.<br />
You should follow information about how to handle and<br />
maintain the backdrop as provided by the rental company,<br />
and make sure the painted surface does not drag on the<br />
theatre floor at any time during installation or operation.<br />
Alteration of the backdrop dimensions is not permitted,<br />
but if the drop is too wide for the venue you may be able<br />
to gently fold back the excess width on both sides and tie<br />
the reversed excess to the pipe.<br />
Although rented backdrops are sometimes not the most<br />
Charles H. Stewart’s Paddington Green backdrop used for Oliver<br />
cost-effective scenery solution, they offer lavish design execution<br />
with minimal effort. There is no easier way to visually<br />
fill a large area on stage, and backdrops can add versatility<br />
and elegance to even a modest production.<br />
Erik Viker is an assistant professor of Theatre at Susquehanna<br />
University, where he serves as faculty technical director for<br />
the Department of Theatre and teaches courses in theatre<br />
operations and stage management.<br />
www.stage-directions.com • May 2008 45
BACKDROPS & DRAPERY<br />
Acme Scenic & Display, Inc.<br />
7737 NE Killingsworth St.<br />
Portland, OR 97218<br />
P: 503-335-1400<br />
F: 503-335-0515<br />
W: www.acmescenic.com<br />
Adirondack Studios<br />
439 County Rte 45 Ste. 1<br />
Argyle, NY 12809<br />
P: 518-638-8000<br />
F: 518-761-3362<br />
W: www.adirondackscenic.com<br />
AE Mitchell & Co., Inc.<br />
4316 Wheeler Ave.<br />
Alexandria, VA 22304<br />
P: 703-823-3303<br />
F: 703-823-3374<br />
W: www.aemitchell.com<br />
ASI Production Services, Inc.<br />
10101 General Dr.<br />
Orlando, FL 32824<br />
P: 800-808-3179<br />
F: 407-240-4358<br />
W: www.asiprod.com<br />
Automatic Devices Company<br />
2121 S 12th St.<br />
Allentown, PA 18103<br />
P: 800-360-2321<br />
F: 610-797-4088<br />
W: www.automaticdevices.com<br />
Backdrops Beautiful<br />
7990 Dagget St. Ste. C<br />
San Diego, CA 92111<br />
P: 866-622-5842<br />
F: 619-209-7809<br />
W: backdropsbeautiful.com<br />
Backdrops Fantastic<br />
552 Poplar St.<br />
Macon, GA 31201<br />
P: 800-508-1916<br />
F: 478-750-7471<br />
W: www.backdropsfantastic.<br />
com<br />
See their ad on page 47.<br />
Backdrops.us/ New York<br />
Sound, LLC<br />
8 John Walsh Blvd. Ste. 322<br />
Peekskill, NY 10566<br />
P: 914-739-0480<br />
F: 914-739-0573<br />
W: www.backdrops.us<br />
Big Image Systems USA<br />
4208 Ottawa Ave. S<br />
St. Louis Park, MN 55416<br />
P: 888-626-9816<br />
F: 952-400-3397<br />
W: www.bigimagesystems.com<br />
BMI Supply<br />
571 Queensbury Ave.<br />
Queensbury, NY 12804<br />
P: 800-836-0524<br />
F: 518-793-6181<br />
W: www.bmisupply.com<br />
BMI Supply South<br />
209-B Depot St.<br />
Greer, SC 29651<br />
P: 800-670-4264<br />
F: 864-877-1062<br />
W: www.bmisupply.com<br />
See their ad on page 7.<br />
BN Productions, Inc.<br />
P.O. Box 353<br />
Boxford, MA 01921<br />
P: 978-352-4730<br />
F: 978-352-4131<br />
W: www.bnproductions.com<br />
Brimar, Inc.<br />
28250 Ballard Dr.<br />
Lake Forest, IL 60045<br />
P: 847-247-0100<br />
F: 847-247-9270<br />
W: www.brimarinc.com<br />
Broderson Backdrops<br />
873 Broadway Studio 603<br />
New York, NY 10003<br />
P: 212-925-9392<br />
W: www.broderson<br />
backdrops.com<br />
Charles H. Stewart Co., Ltd.<br />
115 Flagship Dr.<br />
North Andover, MA 01845<br />
P: 978-682-5757<br />
F: 978-689-0000<br />
W: www.charleshstewart.com<br />
See their ad on page 43.<br />
Chicago Canvas & Supply<br />
3719 W Lawrence Ave.<br />
Chicago, IL 60625<br />
P: 773-478-5700<br />
F: 773-588-3139<br />
W: www.chicagocanvas.com<br />
See their ad on page 51.<br />
Classique Decor Ltd.<br />
5528 47 A Ave.<br />
Wetaskiwin, AB T9A 0M1<br />
P: 888-352-9112<br />
F: 888-352-9112<br />
W: cdl.glink2.com<br />
Cobalt Studios<br />
P.O. Box 79 134 Royce Rd.<br />
White Lake, NY 12786<br />
P: 845-583-7025<br />
F: 845-583-7025<br />
W: www.cobaltstudios.net<br />
Continental Scenery, Inc.<br />
7802 Clybourn Ave.<br />
Sun Valley, CA 91352<br />
P: 818-768-8075<br />
F: 818-768-6939<br />
W: www.continentalscenery.<br />
com<br />
Dammannart Scenic<br />
Backdrop Studio<br />
22395 S Western Ave. Ste. 302<br />
Torrance, CA 90501<br />
P: 888-957-0320<br />
F: 310-783-0275<br />
W: www.backdrops.net<br />
Dazian Fabrics<br />
124 Enterprise Ave. S<br />
Secaucus, NJ 07094<br />
P: 877-232-9426<br />
F: 201-549-1055<br />
W: www.dazian.com<br />
See their ad on page 47.<br />
DeClercq’s Theatrical<br />
Specialties, Inc.<br />
724 Kevin Ct.<br />
Oakland, CA 94621<br />
P: 800-200-6873<br />
F: 510-633-5114<br />
W: www.declercqs.com<br />
Demolli Fine Art Studio<br />
P: 813-731-3257<br />
W: www.demolliart.com<br />
Drape Kings<br />
3200 Liberty Ave. Unit 2C<br />
North Bergen, NJ 07047<br />
P: 201-770-9950<br />
F: 201-770-9956<br />
W: www.drapekings.com<br />
Dreamworld Backdrops<br />
6450 Lusk Blvd. Ste. E106<br />
San Diego, CA 92121<br />
P: 800-737-9869<br />
F: 858-453-2783<br />
W: www.dreamworld<br />
backdrops.com<br />
See their ad on page 45.<br />
Dudley Theatrical<br />
3401 Indiana Ave.<br />
Winston-Salem, NC 27105<br />
P: 336-722-3255<br />
F: 336-722-4641<br />
W: www.dudleytheatrical.com<br />
Fullerton Music Theatre<br />
218 W Commonwealth Ave.<br />
Fullerton, CA 92832<br />
P: 714-526-3832<br />
46 May 2008 • www.stage-directions.com
F: 714-992-1193<br />
W: www.fclo.com<br />
G&G Design Associates<br />
310 S Long Beach Blvd.<br />
Compton, CA 90221<br />
P: 310-632-6300<br />
F: 310-632-6333<br />
W: www.ggda.net<br />
Gerriets International<br />
130 Winterwood Ave.<br />
Ewing, NJ 08638<br />
P: 609-758-9121<br />
F: 609-758-9596<br />
W: www.gi-info.com<br />
Georgia <strong>Stage</strong>, Inc.<br />
4153 Lawrenceville Hwy.<br />
Ste. 12<br />
Lilburn, GA 30047<br />
P: 770-931-1600<br />
F: 770-717-6474<br />
W: www.gastage.com<br />
Grosh Scenic Rentals<br />
4114 Sunset Blvd.<br />
Los Angeles, CA 90029<br />
P: 877-363-7998<br />
F: 323-664-7526<br />
W: www.grosh.com<br />
See their ad on page 46.<br />
Handloomed Textiles<br />
Of Nepal<br />
770 Tolman Creek Rd.<br />
Ashland, OR 97520<br />
P: 541-482-4866<br />
W: www.textilesnepal.com<br />
Hudson Scenic Studio, Inc.<br />
130 Fernbrook St.<br />
Yonkers, NY 10705<br />
P: 914-375-0900<br />
F: 914-378-9134<br />
W: www.hudsonscenic.com<br />
I. Weiss<br />
2-07 Borden Ave.<br />
Long Island City, NY 11101<br />
P: 888-325-7192<br />
F: 718-482-9410<br />
W: www.iweiss.com<br />
See their ad on page 44.<br />
John S. Hyatt & Associates,<br />
Inc.<br />
420 Alabama Ave. NW<br />
Grand Rapids, MI 49504<br />
P: 800-466-9245<br />
F: 616-451-2813<br />
W: www.jshaa.com<br />
Joseph C. Hansen<br />
Drapery Co.<br />
423 W 43rd St.<br />
New York, NY 10036<br />
P: 212-246-8055<br />
F: 212-246-8189<br />
W: www.jchansen.com<br />
Kenmark, Inc.<br />
8125 Santa Fe Dr.<br />
Overland Park, KS 66204<br />
P: 913-648-8125<br />
F: 913-648-5218<br />
W: www.kenmark-inc.com<br />
See their ad on page 48.
BACKDROPS & DRAPERY<br />
Kenney Drapery<br />
Associates, Inc.<br />
13201 NE 16th Ave.<br />
North Miami, FL 33161<br />
P: 800-543-1842<br />
F: 305-891-7396<br />
W: www.kenneydrapery.com<br />
Lexington<br />
12660 Branford St.<br />
Los Angeles, CA 91331<br />
P: 818-768-5768<br />
F: 818-768-4217<br />
W: www.lex-usa.com<br />
Lite Trix, Inc.<br />
2422 Long Rd.<br />
Grand Island, NY 14072<br />
P: 716.774.TRIX<br />
W: www.litetrix.com<br />
Limelight Productions, Inc.<br />
471 Pleasant St.<br />
Lee, MA 01238<br />
P: 800-243-4950<br />
F: 800-243-4951<br />
W: www.limelight<br />
productions.com<br />
Mainstage Theatrical<br />
Supply, Inc.<br />
129 W. Pittsburgh Ave.<br />
Milwaukee, WI 53204<br />
P: 800-236-0878<br />
F: 414-278-0986<br />
W: www.mainstage.com<br />
See their ad on page 50.<br />
Major Theatre Equipment<br />
Corp.<br />
190 Dorchester Ave.<br />
South Boston, MA 02127<br />
P: 617-464-0444<br />
F: 617-464-0101<br />
W: www.majortheatre.com<br />
Michael Hagen, Inc.<br />
207 Ferry Blvd.<br />
South Glen Falls, NY 12803<br />
P: 518-747-8986<br />
F: 518-747-5375<br />
W: www.scenepainting.com<br />
Newmark Scenic Productions<br />
2917 Poplar St.<br />
Sarasota, FL 34237<br />
P: 941-316-9204<br />
W: www.newmarkscenic.com<br />
Norcostco<br />
825 Rhode Island Ave. S<br />
Golden Valley, MN 55426<br />
P: 800-220-6920<br />
W: www.norcostco.com<br />
Performance Solutions FX<br />
29 Basin St.<br />
Toronto, ON M4M 1A1<br />
P: 416-410-1102<br />
F: 416-461-0770<br />
W: www.performance<br />
solutions.net<br />
PNTA, Inc.<br />
615 S. Alaska St.<br />
Seattle, WA 98108<br />
P: 800-622-7850<br />
F: 206-267-1789<br />
W: www.pnta.com<br />
Premier Lighting &<br />
Production Company<br />
12023 Victory Blvd.<br />
North Hollywood, CA 91606<br />
P: 818-762-0884<br />
F: 818-762-0896<br />
W: www.premier-lighting.com<br />
Production Advantage, Inc.<br />
P.O. Box 1700<br />
Williston VT 05495<br />
P: 800-424–9991<br />
F: 877-424–9991<br />
W: www.production<br />
advantageonline.com<br />
Propmasters Miami<br />
9940 NW 79th Ave.<br />
Miami, FL 33016<br />
P: 305-826-1900<br />
F: 305-826-1850<br />
W: www.propmasters.com<br />
Paron West/Paron Annex<br />
206 W 40th St.<br />
New York, NY 10018<br />
P: 212-768-3266<br />
F: 212-768-3260<br />
W: www.paronfabrics.com<br />
Performing Arts Supply Co.<br />
11421-B Todd St.<br />
Houston, TX 77055<br />
P: 800-351-8688<br />
W: www.performingarts<br />
supply.com<br />
Quality <strong>Stage</strong> Drapery Ltd.<br />
18021 105th Ave.<br />
Edmonton, AB T5S 2E1<br />
P: 800-661-5649<br />
F: 780-484-1929<br />
W: www.qsdltd.com<br />
Ravenswood Studio, Inc.<br />
6900 N. Central Park Ave.<br />
Chicago, IL 60712<br />
P: 847-679-2800<br />
W: www.ravenswoodstudio.<br />
com<br />
Rose Brand East<br />
4 Emerson Ln.<br />
Secaucus, NJ 07094<br />
P: 800-223-1624<br />
F: 201-809-1851<br />
W: www.rosebrand.com<br />
See their ad on the inside<br />
of the back cover.<br />
Rose Brand West<br />
10616 Lanark St.<br />
Sun Valley, CA 91352<br />
P: 800-360-5056<br />
F: 818-505-6293<br />
W: www.rosebrand.com<br />
See their ad on the inside<br />
of the back cover.<br />
S&K Theatrical Draperies, Inc.<br />
7313 Varna Ave.<br />
North Hollywood, CA 91605<br />
P: (800) 341-3165<br />
F: 818-503-0599<br />
W: www.sktheatrical<br />
draperies.com<br />
San Diego Opera Scenic<br />
Studio<br />
3064 Commercial St.<br />
San Diego, CA 92113<br />
P: 619-232-5911<br />
F: 619-232-1925<br />
W: www.sdoperascenic<br />
studios.com<br />
Scenery First, Inc.<br />
207 Elmwood Ave.<br />
Sharon Hill, PA 19079<br />
P: 610-532-5600<br />
F: 610-532-5601<br />
W: www.sceneryfirst.com<br />
Scenic Technologies<br />
539 Temple Hill Rd.<br />
New Windsor, NY 12553<br />
P: 407-855-8060<br />
F: 407-855-8059<br />
W: www.scenic-tech.com<br />
Scenicsource Fabrics Inc.<br />
1209 Security Dr.<br />
Dallas, TX 75247<br />
P: 214-638-8300<br />
F: 214-638-8804<br />
W: www.scenicsource.com<br />
Schell Scenic Studio<br />
841 S Front St.<br />
Columbus, OH 43206<br />
P: 614-444-9550<br />
F: 614-444-9554<br />
W: www.schellscenic.com
BACKDROPS & DRAPERY<br />
Sculptural Arts Coating, Inc.<br />
P.O. Box 10546<br />
Greensboro, NC 27404<br />
P: 800-743-0379<br />
F: 336-379-7653<br />
W: www.sculpturalarts.com<br />
Secoa, Inc.<br />
8650 109th Ave. N<br />
Champlin, MN 55316<br />
P: 800-328-5519<br />
F: 763-506-8844<br />
W: www.secoa.com<br />
Set Shop<br />
36 W 20th St.<br />
New York, NY 10011<br />
P: (800) 422-7381<br />
F: 212-229-9600<br />
W: www.setshop.com<br />
Set Solutions<br />
29 Basin St.<br />
Toronto, ON M4M 1A1<br />
P: 416-410-1102<br />
F: 416-461-0770<br />
W: www.setsolutions.net<br />
Sew What?, Inc.<br />
1978 Gladwick St.<br />
Rancho Dominguez, CA 90220<br />
P: 310-639-6000<br />
F: 310-639-6036<br />
W: www.sewwhatinc.com<br />
Showman Fabricators, Inc.<br />
47-22 Pearson Pl.<br />
Long Island City, NY 11101<br />
P: 718-935-9899<br />
F: 718-855-9823<br />
W: www.showfab.com<br />
Silhouette Lights & Staging<br />
2432 S Inland Empire Way<br />
Spokane, WA 99224<br />
P: 800-801-4804<br />
F: 509-456-3718<br />
W: www.silhouettelights.com<br />
Silk Spirit<br />
411 San Anselmo Ave.<br />
San Anselmo, CA 94960<br />
P: 415-945-9410<br />
F: 415-456-6403<br />
W: www.ludwigdesign.com<br />
<strong>Stage</strong> Front Presentation<br />
Systems<br />
6 Southern Oaks Dr.<br />
Savannah, GA 31405<br />
P: 800-736-9242<br />
F: 912-233-5350<br />
W: www.sfps.net<br />
<strong>Stage</strong> Technology, Inc.<br />
3110 Washington Ave. N<br />
Ste. 100<br />
Minneapolis, MN 55411<br />
P: 800-889-4081<br />
F: 612-455-0224<br />
W: www.stagetechnology.com<br />
<strong>Stage</strong>craft Industries, Inc.<br />
5051 N Lagoon Ave.<br />
Portland, OR 97217<br />
P: 503-286-1600<br />
F: 503-286-3345<br />
W: www.stagecraftindustries.<br />
com<br />
<strong>Stage</strong>works<br />
1510 S Main St.<br />
Little Rock, AR 72202<br />
P: 501-375-2243<br />
F: 501-375-2650<br />
W: www.stageworks.com<br />
Sunbelt Scenic Studios<br />
8980 S McKemy St.<br />
Tempe, AZ 85284<br />
P: 480-598-0181<br />
F: 480-598-0188<br />
W: www.sunbeltscenic.com<br />
Syracuse Scenery &<br />
<strong>Stage</strong> Lighting Co., Inc.<br />
101 Monarch Dr.<br />
Liverpool, NY 13088<br />
50 May 2008 • www.stage-directions.com<br />
P: 800-453-7775<br />
F: 315-453-7897<br />
W: www.syracusescenery.com<br />
Texas Scenic Co.<br />
5423 Jackwood Dr.<br />
San Antonio, TX 78238<br />
P: 800-292-7490<br />
F: 210-684-4557<br />
W: www.texasscenic.com<br />
Theatre Service and Supply<br />
Corp.<br />
1792 Union Ave.<br />
Baltimore, MD 21211<br />
P: 410-467-1225<br />
F: 410-467-1289<br />
W: www.stage-n-studio.com<br />
TLS, Inc.<br />
1221 Jordan Ln.<br />
Huntsville, AL 35816<br />
P: 866.254.7803<br />
F: 800-229-7320<br />
W: www.tlsinc.com<br />
Tobins Lake Studios/TLS<br />
Productions<br />
7030 Whitmore Lake Rd.<br />
Brighton, MI 48116<br />
P: 888-719-0300<br />
F: 810-229-0221<br />
W: www.tobinslake.com<br />
See their ad on page 49.<br />
Tru-roll, Inc.<br />
622 Sonora Ave.<br />
Glendale, CA 91201<br />
P: 800-989-7516<br />
F: 818-240-4855<br />
W: www.truroll.com<br />
United <strong>Stage</strong> Equipment<br />
110 Short St.<br />
Hartselle, AL 35640<br />
P: 800-227-5407<br />
F: 256-773-2586<br />
W: www.unitedstageinc.com<br />
UV/FX Scenic Productions<br />
171 Pier Ave.<br />
Santa Monica, CA 90405<br />
P: 310-821-2657<br />
F: 310-392-6817<br />
W: www.uvfx.com<br />
Vadar Production<br />
Company, Inc.<br />
1300 W McNab Rd.<br />
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33309<br />
P: 800-221-9511<br />
F: 954-978-8446<br />
W: www.avadar.com<br />
Weber-Prianti Scenic<br />
Studio, Inc.<br />
408-A Meco Dr.<br />
Wilmington, DE 19804<br />
P: 888-997-6500<br />
F: 302-998-6931<br />
W: www.wpscenic.com<br />
For more information about the companies<br />
advertising in <strong>Stage</strong> <strong>Directions</strong>® and serving the<br />
theatre profession, go to the links listed below.<br />
Advertiser Page Website<br />
ACT Lighting 5 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-237<br />
American Musical &<br />
Dramatic Academy/ AMDA<br />
2 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-100<br />
Angstrom Lighting 51 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-176<br />
Apollo Design Technology 25 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-104<br />
Atlanta Rigging Systems 13 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-177<br />
Audiovend Wireless Systems 36 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-102<br />
Backdrops Fantastic 47 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-251<br />
Barbizon 37 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-275<br />
BMI Supply 7 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-107<br />
Bulbtronics 36 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-110<br />
Charles H. Stewart & Co. 43, 51 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-113<br />
Chauvet Lighting 9 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-155<br />
Chicago Canvas & Supply 51 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-179<br />
City Theatrical Inc. 12, 51 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-114<br />
D.A.S. Audio C2 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-180<br />
Datapro Systems 51 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-252<br />
Dazian Products 47 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-181<br />
DreamWorld Backdrops 45 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-157<br />
Eartec 12 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-276<br />
Elation C4 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-182<br />
Full Compass 15 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-274<br />
Graftobian 51 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-208<br />
Graham Swift & Co/<br />
Theatre Guys<br />
51 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-168<br />
Grosh 46 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-253<br />
I.Weiss 44 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-254<br />
Kenmark 48 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-255<br />
Light Source, The 1 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-160<br />
Mainstage Theatrical Supply 50 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-256<br />
Mask Arts Company 51 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-296<br />
NATEAC 26 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-280<br />
New York Film Academy 6 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-133<br />
Rosco Laboratories 11 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-143<br />
Rose Brand C3 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-140<br />
Sculptural Arts Coating 39 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-141<br />
<strong>Stage</strong>lights.com 51 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-167<br />
Techni-Lux 33 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-250<br />
Theatre Wireless/<br />
RC4 Wireless Dimming<br />
51 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-166<br />
TheatricalHardware.com 34 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-247<br />
Tobins Lake Studios 49 http://infox.hotims.com/18508-257
For advertising<br />
information contact James at<br />
817.795.8744<br />
Classified Advertising
Answer Box<br />
By Thomas H. Freeman<br />
Let Down Your Swing<br />
The swing flown at stage level connects the two circular platforms.<br />
Rapunzel sings to her prince while sitting on the swing,<br />
not a tower, in the Kneehigh production of Rapunzel.<br />
For a revisionist take on the tale of Rapunzel, Kneehigh<br />
Theatre staged a swing, not a tower.<br />
Blame Into the Woods, or Disney backlash, but<br />
fairy tales are rarely given the earnest, straightahead<br />
treatment on stage anymore — and<br />
Kneehigh Theatre’s production of Rapunzel at The<br />
New Victory Theater in New York is no different.<br />
Playwright Annie Siddons and Director Emma Rice<br />
reached back to the older texts of Rapunzel that lie<br />
behind the Grimm Brothers’ famous version to find a<br />
more capable heroine and a little jolt of “va va voom.”<br />
As part of the staging for this nontraditional take,<br />
their Rapunzel has long, black dreadlocks and the<br />
step-mother isn’t so much a witch as just incredibly<br />
overprotective.<br />
As part of this re-imagining, the tower where<br />
Rapunzel is trapped is staged as a swing. A red, ovalshaped<br />
piece of floor is flown to stage level during<br />
the show, to bridge a gap in two circular stages. The<br />
same oval piece is also flown approximately six feet<br />
above the stage and supports two performers who<br />
use the platform as a tower and swing. A small, portable<br />
Saxis control unit and BigTow winch, from <strong>Stage</strong><br />
Technologies, is being used to create these effects for<br />
the touring production.<br />
<strong>Stage</strong> Technologies worked with Production<br />
Manager and Lighting Designer Alex Wardle on this<br />
project and provided a system capable of flying a<br />
small platform carrying two performers.<br />
“Part of the reason we chose the system is that the<br />
Saxis is simple to program and operate,” says Wardle.<br />
“During the performance, it is operated by our <strong>Stage</strong><br />
Manager Amy Griffin, who is in costume, running<br />
around the stage passing props to actors, setting off<br />
pyrotechnics, fetching the rabbit from its hutch and<br />
flying two hemp sets — so it’s got to be simple! Also,<br />
the tour in the UK played in the round, which meant<br />
that the winch was in the same room as the audience,<br />
so it was important that it runs reasonably quietly”.<br />
Also in the unit’s favor was the compact size of the<br />
Saxis unit and BigTow winch, which make the system<br />
easy to install and transport, and give it more options<br />
for installing in the rigging, making it a good option<br />
for small and touring productions.<br />
Answer Box Needs You!<br />
Every production has its challenges. We’d like to hear how you solved them!<br />
Send your Answer Box story and pics to answerbox@stage-directions.com.<br />
52 May 2008 • www.stage-directions.com